The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to see profit-taking moving within the range of RM3,500 to RM3,600 per tonne as the Ramadan month is ending next week.
Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said most palm oil mills and international traders would be closed as they celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
“Our stocks are doing quite well and I reckon buyers have already secured their stocks well early during the Ramadan month, especially those from India, Pakistan, Middle East countries and some parts in China.
“Speculators will also be taking a break during the festive season, hence the profit-taking and a quieter market next week,” he told Bernama.
For the week just ended, the CPO market was traded mostly lower, tracking the performance of soybean oil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade and the Dalian Commodity Exchange palm olein futures market amid concerns over tight inventories, weak palm oil exports and profit-taking.
There were also concerns overIndonesia’s revision on its export policy to regulate domestic supplies after Ramadan’s peak demand.
During the trading week, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board reported that Malaysia’s total palm oil stocks fell 21.08 per cent to 1.67 million tonnes in March from the 2.12 million tonnes recorded the month before.
On a weekly basis, spot month April 2023 dropped RM120 to RM4,100, May 2023 narrowed by RM43 to RM3,911 per tonne and June 2023 gave up RM92 to RM3,702 per tonne.
The July 2023 contract month subtracted RM132 to RM3,566 per tonne, August 2023 went down RM149 to RM3,503 per tonne and September 2023 decreased RM141 to RM3,480 per tonne.
Total weekly volume rose to 387,227 lots from 295,561 lots, while open interest was higher at 204,264 contracts from 196,321 contracts at the end of last week. The physical CPO price for April South was RM50 lower at RM4,250 per tonne.
