CPO futures expected to trade at RM6,100-RM6,700 a tonne next week

KUALA LUMPUR: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade range-bound at between RM6,100 and RM6,700 a tonne with a downside bias ahead of a key crop report set for release next week.

Palm oil trader David Ng said expectations of higher inventories and concerns over rising output in the coming weeks would continue to lend support for the commodity.

"Besides the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's April data, the local market is also expecting Indonesia’s current export ban to be short-lived," he told Bernama.

Last week, the world’s top palm oil producer imposed an export ban on raw materials for cooking oil, including crude and refined palm oil, in an attempt to lower cooking oil prices.

Malaysia’s CPO futures were traded lower in the just-ended shortened trading week following the Labour Day and Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, May 2022 decreased RM625 to RM7,058 a tonne, June 2022 fell RM812 to RM6,785 a tonne, and July 2022 went down RM704 to RM6,400 a tonne.

Meanwhile, August 2022 was RM600 lower at RM6,154 a tonne, September 2022 reduced RM486 to RM6,033 a tonne, and October 2022 dropped RM417 to RM5,974 a tonne.

Weekly volume shrank to 121,996 lots from 376,616 lots last week, while open interest was slightly higher at 209,809 contracts compared with 206,333 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for May South fell RM580 to RM7,170 a tonne. - Bernama