SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures retreated from a one-month high on Thursday as traders took profits, with pressure also coming from losses in rival edible oils due to higher-than-expected US supplies.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 38 ringgit, or 0.95%, to 3,959 ringgit ($919.63) a tonne by the midday break.
Palm futures are headed marginally lower from profit-booking and positioning ahead of Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data due tomorrow, said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics.
Malaysia’s palm oil exports likely slumped 21.7% to 1.15 million tonnes due to slowing shipments to largest consumers India and China, a Reuters survey showed on Monday. The MPOB and cargo surveyors are scheduled to release key supply and demand data on Friday.
Palm gives up early gains ahead of key data
The US Agriculture Department on Wednesday reported bigger-than-expected soybean supplies due to weaker domestic demand and lowered its forecast for Argentine soybean harvests. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.28%.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 0.48%, while its palm oil contract gave up 0.52%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm oil may drop to 3,888 ringgit per tonne, as a flat pattern from the Jan. 25 low of 3,721 ringgit may have completed, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
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