KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16: Malaysian palm oil futures inched up on Tuesday, although gains were capped by concerns over rising stockpiles as investors digested news that export tax cuts will only take effect next year.
Traders were also waiting for top industry analysts Dorab Mistry, Thomas Mielke and James Fry to give their outlooks for palm oil prices at a seminar in Malaysia later in the day, as well as any comments they make on the recently announced tax changes.
The government last week said it would slash crude palm oil export taxes to boost shipments and ease stocks as well as grab market share from neighbouring Indonesia, but that these reforms would only be implemented in January.
‘The market is still trying to get a grip on how big stocks can get in Malaysia, as well as digesting news that the export taxes are not going to come through until early January,’ said ANZ agricultural commodity strategist Victor Thianpiriya.
‘In the short term this will probably depress prices a little bit, as consumers would prefer to wait until January and potentially source from Indonesia to bridge that gap.’
By the midday break, the benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had risen 1.3 percent to 2,502 ringgit ($819) per tonne.
Total traded volumes stood at 13,345 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 12,500 lots.
Technical analysis showed palm oil will be neutral until it gets out of a range of 2,361-2,528 ringgit per tonne, said Reuters analyst Wang Tao.
Palm oil stocks in Malaysia hit a record 2.48 million tonnes in September, but strong export data in the first 15 days of October could help support prices.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Oct. 1-15 rose 13.1 percent to 769,534 tonnes from 680,112 tonnes last month, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports in the same period surged 16.3 percent to 768,550 tonnes.
In a bullish sign for palm oil, Brent futures held steady above $115, underpinned by supply concerns after the European Union slapped more sanctions on Iran, while ample supplies and healthy inventory at top consumer the United States capped gains.
In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. Soyoil for December delivery inched up 1.2 percent in early Asian trade. The most active January 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0454 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL NOV2 2438 +31.00 2436 2450 166 MY PALM OIL DEC2 2471 +38.00 2462
2486 3013 MY PALM OIL JAN3 2502 +32.00 2494 2521 6328 CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3 6908 +82.00
6862 6926 160694 CHINA SOYOIL JAN3 9120 +116.00 9042 9130 203740 CBOT SOY OIL DEC2 50.57 +0.56 50.01 50.69 3194 NYMEX CRUDE NOV2
91.88 +0.03 91.58 91.97 5122
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. Cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne Crude in U.S. Dollars per barrel
(agencies)
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