Malaysian palm oil futures jumped on Monday due to falling inventories and expectations of lower output because of dry weather conditions.
The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up RM8, or 0.22%, to RM3,719 by the midday break.
“There are concerns that unfavourable weather could affect palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia, and then there are lower inventories,” said a Mumbai-based dealer to Reuters.
Malaysia’s palm oil stocks at the end of November fell for the first time in seven months as production slumped more than exports, data from the industry regulator showed on Tuesday.
However, slowing exports capped gains.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in the first half of December fell 13.6% month-on-month to 591,490 metric tonnes, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday.
Soyoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.12%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
According to Reuters, Indonesia plans to set its crude palm oil reference price at US$767.51 per metric tonne for the Dec 16-31 period, a trade ministry official said last week, down from US$795.14 in the first half of the month.
India’s palm oil imports in November jumped to a near three-month high, up nearly 23% from October as refiners preferred the tropical oil over rival soyoil and sunflower oil due to steep discounts, a leading trade body said.
Palm oil may bounce to RM3,748 per metric tonne, driven by a wave c, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Monday, rising nearly 1% in early trade, supported by lower exports from Russia and as attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea raised concerns of oil supply disruption.
Asia stocks slipped on Monday in a subdued start to the week.
