Palm oil rises as Indonesian export ban drags on

May 18, 2022: Malaysian palm oil futures inched up on Wednesday, on higher exports from the country and a longer-than-expected export ban in Indonesia, although the contract still remained near a five-week low hit in the previous session.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 33 ringgit, or 0.54%, to 6,149 ringgit ($1,400.05) a tonne during early trade.

FUNDAMENTALS

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for May 1-15 rose 23.9% to 613,649 tonnes from the same week in April, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Tuesday.

Stronger demand, reflected by firmer palm oil exports, and slower output growth in Malaysia due to a shorter number of working days are keeping the market firm, Refinitiv Agriculture Research said in a note on Tuesday.

Top producer Indonesia has halted exports of crude and refined palm oil since April 28 and investors had hoped for the policy to be lifted within a few weeks as storage tanks fill up. However, the ruling remains in place until domestic cooking oil prices fall.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 fell 0.4%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 lost 0.2%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were down 0.5%.

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

Palm oil may retest a support at 5,984 ringgit per tonne, a break below which could open the way towards 5,843 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. TECH/C

MARKET NEWS

Asia's stock markets struggled to carry recent gains into a fourth straight session and the U.S. dollar steadied, as nagging doubts about inflation and the drag from rate rises crept back into the global growth outlook.

Reuters