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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

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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)