BLBG:Palm Oil Climbs as Biggest Drop in Two Weeks Spurs Import Demand
Palm oil advanced for the first time in three days after the biggest decline in almost two weeks stoked demand from importers.
The contract for December delivery gained as much as 2.2 percent to 2,486 ringgit ($813) a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange and was at 2,476 ringgit at 11:29 a.m. local time. Futures slumped 2.7 percent yesterday, the biggest decline for the most-active contract since Oct. 2.
Exports from Malaysia rose 16.3 percent to 768,550 tons in the first 15 days of October from the same same period a month earlier, Societe Generale de Surveillance said yesterday. Last month, futures dropped 16 percent, the biggest loss since October 2008. The most-active price touched 2,230 ringgit on Oct. 3, the lowest level since November 2009.
“The demand is fairly good around these levels,” Vijay Mehta, a director at Commodity Links Pte., said by phone from Singapore. “There was high volatility in prices in the past couple of weeks, so many consumers were staying away. Buyers are now booking their stocks.”
Rising production and stockpiles in Malaysia and Indonesia are capping gains, he said.
Reserves in Malaysia increased to a record 2.48 million tons last month, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. That was the third increase in monthly holdings, and 46 percent above the level in June.
Soybean oil for December delivery advanced 1.2 percent to 50.63 cents a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybeans for November delivery climbed 0.7 percent to $15.025 a bushel.
Palm oil for January delivery traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.9 percent to 6,904 yuan ($1,101) a ton. Soybean oil for delivery in the same month increased 1.3 percent to 9,120 yuan a ton.
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