Palm oil rises on expectations of soft December output

December 23, 2021: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for the third straight session on Thursday amid expectations of a softer December output due to torrential rains that began last week and caused floods in eight states in Malaysia.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.30% to 4,506 ringgit ($1,071.58) in early trade.

Palm gained 3.73% over the past two days and rose 1.57% in overnight trade.

FUNDAMENTALS

Dalian's soyoil contract for May delivery rose 1.59%, while its palm oil contract gained 1.60%. Soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade for May delivery were down 0.16%.

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

Oil prices rose overnight after a larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. inventories, shaking off worries about the likely hit to economic activity from the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Stronger crude oil futures typically make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

Palm oil may test a resistance at 4,555 ringgit per tonne, a break above which could lead to a gain into the 4,625-4,676 ringgit range.

Reuters