KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended more than 2percent higher on Thursday, as trading resumed after a two-day Lunar New Year holiday, driven by stronger Chicago soyoil and crude oil prices.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 101 ringgit, or 2.51percent, to 4,117 ringgit (USD1,053.75) a metric ton at the close.
Crude palm oil futures rose on a bullish note following a rally in Chicago soyoil and energy futures Wednesday night, with the contract essentially catching up to the vegetable oil price action that occurred in related markets during the Malaysian holidays, said Anilkumar Bagani, commodity research head at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group.
Bagani said the absence of Chinese markets and weak export demand are limiting palm oil’s recovery. The Dalian Commodity Exchange is closed for the Lunar New Year holidays and will resume trading on February 24.
The market expects plantations to harvest palm oil early in February ahead of Ramadan, said Bagani. “It could restrict a major decline in Malaysian palm oil end-February stocks unless export performance starts improving.” Cargo surveyors are expected to release their estimated exports of Malaysian palm oil products for February 1-20 on Friday.
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