Palm oil falls 4% on likely higher April stockpile

May 6, 2022: Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses on Friday and looked set for their steepest weekly fall in seven, weighed down by surveys anticipating a rise in end-April inventories.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 271 ringgit, or 4.01%, to 6,471 ringgit ($1,480.78) a tonne during early trade, down for a second straight day in a holiday-shortened week.

Palm appears set to drop more than 8% for the week, the most since March 18.

FUNDAMENTALS

Malaysia's palm oil inventories in end-April likely rose for the first time in six months, up 5.2% from the previous month to 1.55 million tonnes, according to a Reuters poll. 

Production is expected to rise 4.9% to a five-month high of 1.48 million tonnes, while exports likely fell 5.6% to 1.2 million tonnes, the survey showed.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 fell 1.3%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 dropped 2.1%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were down 1%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

MARKET NEWS

Asian shares tumbled while the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields rose in a reversal of a day earlier after investors expressed concerns that rising interest rates could hurt global economic growth. 

Oil prices dipped at the start of Asian trade as worries about an economic downturn that could dampen demand for crude vied with concerns over new sanctions from the European Union against Russia, including an embargo on crude oil.

Reuters