Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose on Monday in light trade, with some investors buying on a survey showing a jump in exports and firm prices in competing soyoil markets. Traders eyed weather developments in the United States where there was rain and flooding that slowed the pace of corn planting and may affect soybean seeding, potentially boosting grain markets and the vegetable oil complex.
Malaysian palm oil futures have fallen 14.1 percent so far this year on growing stocks although strong export data from a cargo surveyor showed that top buyers China and India would take up more, erasing earlier losses. "The market is getting some support from exports, which is expected, but the real drama will come from the US weather, which is potentially disruptive for grains," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.
The benchmark August crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended 0.2 percent higher at 3,255 ringgit ($1,084) per tonne, after hitting an intra-day high of 3,275 ringgit. Overall traded volume was light at 18,702 lots of 25 tonnes each compared to the usual 25,000 lots as some traders took leave ahead of a public holiday on Tuesday in Malaysia.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for May 1-15 rose 27.6 percent to 533,419 tonnes from the same period a month earlier, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said, showing China and India had started restocking. Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports for May 1-15 had jumped 33.2 percent to 601,984 tonnes.
Higher palm oil demand from China comes after Beijing's commerce minister said the world's No 2 vegetable oil importer would buy 500,000 tonnes of Argentine soyoil, putting to rest concerns that less palm oil cargoes would be taken up by the country. "China needs to restock vegetable oils on all fronts. Both palm oil and soyoil benefit," said a regional vegetable oil trader in Singapore.
Technical signals also looked promising. A Reuters analysis showed Malaysian palm oil would rise more to 3,351 ringgit per tonne as it may break a pivotal resistance at 3,280 ringgit. US oil futures slipped to as low as $98.13 a barrel as the euro fell to a seven-week low against the dollar on worries that Greece may restructure its sovereign debt, weighing on vegetable oil markets. US soyoil for July delivery rose 0.3 percent during late Asian hours as concerns mount that wet weather in the US Midwest will also affect seeding soybeans. The most-active January 2012 Dalian soyoil contract slipped 0.4 percent.