Palm gains on demand prospects

May 11, 2022: Malaysian palm oil futures on Wednesday rose from the previous session's two-week closing low, lifted by prospects of improved demand and indications that the world's second-largest producer may cut export taxes.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 81 ringgit, or 1.28%, to 6,394 ringgit ($1,458.82) a tonne in early trade.

FUNDAMENTALS

Malaysia's commodities ministry has proposed cutting the palm oil export tax by as much as half and will slow the implementation of its biodiesel mandate to help fill a global edible oil shortage, minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday. 

India's edible oil imports are set to fall for the third year in a row on a rise in local oilseed supplies and as a rally in vegetable oil prices to a record high dented demand, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said on Tuesday. 

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for May 1-10 rose 40.3% from the same week in April, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Tuesday. 

Malaysia's palm oil stocks at the end-April climbed to a five-month peak of 1.64 million tonnes on improving production and a deeper-than-expected fall in exports, the palm oil board data showed on Tuesday. 

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 gained 0.9%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 rose 1.2%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were up 0.8%.

Palm oil looks neutral in a narrow zone of 6,290-6,409 ringgit a tonne, and an escape could suggest a direction, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. TECH/C

MARKET NEWS

Asian shares edged higher from close to two-year lows hit in the previous session and the dollar held steady, ahead of keenly awaited U.S. inflation data that will offer a guide to how aggressively the U.S. Fed will raise rates. 

Reuters