* Palm snaps 4-day rising streak
* Contract gained 3.5 pct during streak
* Exports from Malaysia rise only 0.9 pct for April 1-20 vs.
March
By Rajendra Jadhav
MUMBAI, April 22 (Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil futures
snapped a four-day rising streak on Friday as sluggish export
demand and a correction in rival soyoil prices prompted traders
to book profits.
The palm oil contract for June delivery on the
Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1.1 percent to 2,706
ringgit ($ 693.49) per tonne at the midday break. Palm oil had
risen 3.5 percent in the previous four sessions.
Traded volumes were 14,485 lots of 25 tonnes each.
“Exports demand is not picking up. It seems buyers are
waiting for a correction,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
Purchases by palm oil importers, including top buyer India,
are running behind schedule, traders said.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-20 rose
just 0.9 percent to 724,169 tonnes from 717,670 tonnes shipped
during March 1-20, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de
Surveillance said earlier this week.
“Underlying trend is bullish considering the expected drop
in the production, but right now demand is not supporting
further upside,” the trader said.
Palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s
top two producers, is expected to drop in 2016 following hot and
dry weather brought on by the El Nino weather pattern.
Malaysian palm oil inventories in March fell below 2 million
tonnes for the first time in a year as buyers rushed to purchase
the tropical oil before a tax on exports kicked in, offsetting a
seasonal jump in output.
Palm oil may retrace to a support at 2,697 ringgit per
tonne, as it has failed to break a resistance at 2,744 ringgit,
said Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy
technicals.
The September soybean oil contract on the Dalian
Commodity Exchange lost 1 percent, while the May Chicago Board
of Trade soyoil contract eased 0.4 percent.
($ 1 = 3.9020 ringgit)
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0516 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY6 2692 -20.00 2690 2704 119
MY PALM OIL JUN6 2707 -28.00 2707 2725 1935
MY PALM OIL JUL6 2706 -29.00 2705 2725 8182
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP6 5712 -104.00 5670 5866 948076
CHINA SOYOIL SEP6 6300 -66.00 6252 6426 818914
CBOT SOY OIL MAY6 34.08 -1.20 34.01 34.29 1691
INDIA PALM OIL APR6 571.10 -1.20 569.90 576.80 99
INDIA SOYOIL MAY6 674.75 -1.40 673.00 675.40 11560
NYMEX CRUDE JUN6 43.84 +0.66 43.23 43.86 22815
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
(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Christian
Schmollinger)
