The palm oil contract for April on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.3 percent to 2,547 ringgit ($603.70) per tonne at the end of Wednesday. It earlier reached an intraday high of 2,551 ringgit, its strongest level since May 19, 2014.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a second trading day to reach a new 20-month high on Wednesday as traders forecast lower palm oil output in February due to the Lunar New Year public holidays.
The palm oil contract for April on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.3 percent to 2,547 ringgit ($603.70) per tonne at the end of Wednesday. It earlier reached an intraday high of 2,551 ringgit, its strongest level since May 19, 2014.
Traded volume stood at 60,141 lots of 25 tonnes each.
"Production was down last month and this month is expected to be down again," said a trader from a palm oil brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"There is Chinese New Year, so there are fewer harvesting
days, coupled with other public holidays plus fewer calendar
days in February."
Palm oil output in top producers Malaysia and Indonesia is
seeing a decline in line with the seasonal trend, and as the dry
weather impact from the El Nino last year kicks in.
A weaker ringgit on Wednesday could have also lent support
to palm, as this makes the vegetable oil cheaper for holders of
foreign currencies.
The ringgit, the currency palm is traded in, lost 0.3
percent to reach 4.2190 per dollar on Wednesday as investors
weigh in concerns over falling oil prices and allegations
surrounding Malaysia's debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia
Development Berhad (1MDB).
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. March soyoil
contract gained 0.6 percent, while the May soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.3
percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1013 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL FEB6 2455 +23.00 2438 2459 427
MY PALM OIL MAR6 2506 +23.00 2474 2508 4414
MY PALM OIL APR6 2547 +32.00 2507 2551 28753
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY6 4768 +30.00 4738 4784 700608
CHINA SOYOIL MAY6 5642 +18.00 5608 5662 337542
CBOT SOY OIL MAR6 30.98 +2.80 30.70 30.99 4169
INDIA PALM OIL FEB6 456.40 +2.80 454.50 456.90 937
INDIA SOYOIL FEB6 618.80 -0.75 617.50 621.70 23970
NYMEX CRUDE MAR6 30.31 +0.43 29.40 30.60 66052
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 4.2190 ringgit)
($1 = 68.1500 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.5770 Chinese yuan)
- Reuters
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