Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are projected to trade in a wider range of RM3,840 to RM4,260 next week, said Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani.
“Strong March export numbers and lower production in February fail to lift sentiments,” he said.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia’s total palm oil stocks dropped by 6.56 percent to 2.11 million tonnes in February 2023 from 2.26 million tonnes recorded in the preceding month.
Meanwhile, Palm oil trader David Ng expects next week’s market to remain weak with prices trading between RM4,000 and RM4,250.
For the week just ended, palm oil traded mostly lower due to weaker prices in the soybean oil market and weaker demand from export destinations such as China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United States, the Middle East and Africa.
On a weekly basis, March 2023 contract was down RM148 to RM4,170 per tonne, April 2023 was lower by RM232 to RM4,111 and May 2023 fell RM259 to RM4,093.
Meanwhile, June 2023 decreased RM272 to RM4,060 per tonne, July 2023 dropped RM271 to RM4,019 per tonne and August 2023 was lower by RM260 to RM3,980 per tonne.
Total weekly volume decreased to 246,680 lots from 289,336 lots while open interest rose to 170,198 contracts from 169,194 contracts at the end of last week.
The physical CPO price for March South was RM50 lower at RM4,250 per tonne.
