JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures jumped on Thursday, erasing the previous session’s losses, tracking stronger rival oils at Dalian and supported by data from Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) that showed a rise in March inventories.
The benchmark June palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 53 ringgit, or 1.28%, to 4,201 ringgit ($940.66) a metric ton at the close.
“The futures react to rival oils’ rise,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said earlier, adding that the MPOB export data will provide cues into the way forward. Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract added 0.84%, while its palm oil contract gained 1.37%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) dropped 0.24%.
Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Malaysia’s palm oil stocks posted their first rise in six months in March, as production recovered and imports rose sharply, offsetting strong festive demand, data from the industry regulator showed on Thursday.
The stocks at the end of March rose 3.52% from the previous month to 1.56 million metric tons. Independent inspection Company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1 - 10 rose 52.8% to 301,113 metric tons, while according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services it rose 29.3% to 323,160 metric tons.
Oil prices retreated nearly 3% on Thursday as fears of a deepening US-China trade war and possible recession eclipsed earlier relief created by President Donald Trump’s announced 90-day pause on sweeping tariffs against most countries.
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