VEGOILS-Palm falls to near 2-week low, stronger ringgit offsets firm demand
(Updates prices, adds SGS data and Indonesian tax decision)
* Malaysian ringgit climbs as much as 3.5565 per U.S. dollar
* Malaysia's April 1-25 palm oil exports rise 6-7 pct -cargo
surveyors
* Palm oil to drop into 2,099-2,118 rgt range - technicals
* Indonesia keeps May palm oil export tax at zero percent
By Anuradha Raghu
KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil
futures fell to their lowest in nearly two weeks on Monday,
stretching losses into a fourth day as a modest pick-up in
export demand was offset by strength in the ringgit and
lingering concerns over rising yields.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil have been firm this month, but
a stronger local currency may see overseas buyers trimming
purchases of the ringgit-priced feedstock. The ringgit
was up 0.5 percent at 3.5655 per U.S. dollar by 1019 GMT, after
touching as high as 3.5565.
"The two bearish factors affecting prices at the moment are
the currency and high production in April," said one trader with
a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"The exports are slightly better than expected, but they're
overshadowed by MPOA's supposed 17 percent increase in
production," the trader added, referring to estimates by
planters group Malaysian Palm Oil Association last week.
"If production turns out to be not as good, there might be
some bounce (in prices)."
The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia
Derivatives exchange had inched down 2.1 percent to 2,109
ringgit ($592) a tonne by Monday's close, just above the
intraday low of 2,107 ringgit, the weakest since April 14.
Total traded volume stood at 55,576 lots of 25 tonnes each,
well above the usual 35,000 lots.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that
shipments for April 1-25 rose 5.6 percent from a month earlier
to 904,112 tonnes, thanks to stronger demand from China and
Europe.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance
showed exports for the same period rose 7.1 percent.
Indonesia, the world's largest palm grower, will keep its
export tax for crude palm oil (CPO) unchanged at zero percent in
May.
Indonesia is also considering reducing the CPO export tax
rates, which currently range from 7.5 percent to 22.5 percent,
according to local media reports. The threshold of $750 a tonne
for the duty to kick in will remain the same, a senior
government official was quoted as saying.
In other markets, Brent crude reversed early gains to fall
below $65 on Monday as the dollar strengthened, offsetting signs
that U.S. shale output may have started to decline and concerns
that fighting in Yemen could disrupt Middle East supplies.
U.S. July soyoil contract rose 0.2 percent in late
Asian trade, while the most active September soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.1
percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1022 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY5 2121 -45.00 2120 2166 416
MY PALM OIL JUN5 2118 -44.00 2115 2153 4778
MY PALM OIL JUL5 2109 -45.00 2107 2147 31753
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 4908 +14.00 4834 4924 840964
CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5698 -4.00 5622 5712 849102
CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 31.90 -1.20 31.68 32.04 8343
INDIA PALM OIL APR5 440.50 -1.20 439.70 442.20 284
INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 594.85 +3.00 591.50 597.70 33190
NYMEX CRUDE JUN5 56.84 -0.31 56.71 57.46 23319
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 = 3.5655 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2206 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.59 Indian rupees)
(Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Anand Basu)