KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures opened more than 1 per cent higher on Friday, and was poised for a second weekly gain, supported by stronger rival edible oils and cargo surveyors’ positive export data.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose RM62, or 1.55 per cent, to RM4,052 (US$998.52) a metric ton in early trade.
The contract has advanced 0.45 per cent so far this week.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract added 0.38 per cent, while its palm oil contract firmed 0.16 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.36 per cent.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
Cargo surveyors estimated exports of Malaysian palm oil products for January 1-15 to have risen 17.5 per cent-18.6 per cent month-on-month.
Oil prices were flat, with both Brent and US West Texas Intermediate moving only a few cents from their closing prices after the likelihood of a US strike on Iran receded.
Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, weakened 0.17 per cent against the dollar, making the commodity slightly cheaper for buyers holding foreign currencies.
Indonesia’s military-backed forestry task force has threatened legal action against dozens of plantation and mining companies refusing to pay hefty fines for operations in forest areas that authorities deem illegal.
Malaysia has lowered its February crude palm oil reference price, a change that cuts the export duty to 9 per cent, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Thursday.
Palm oil may extend gains into a range of RM4,088-RM4,111 per metric ton, following its sharp bounce from the Thursday low of RM3,976, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Asian stocks advanced as the artificial intelligence boom regained momentum, while the dollar held near a six-week high after upbeat US economic data left traders trimming bets on rate cuts there.
Source : NST
