RTRS:VEGOILS-Palm oil rebounds from near 3-mth low, exports support
* Higher exports may help ease stocks further
* Palm oil to hover above 2,339 ringgit -technicals
(Updates prices)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, April 2 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
rebounded on Tuesday on bargain hunting after the edible oil
fell to nearly a three-month low the previous day, while
expectations that firm exports could help ease stocks further
also provided support.
Palm oil fell to its lowest since Jan. 11 on Monday after
the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a
larger-than-expected soybean stockpile, burnishing prospects
that soybean oil supply could erode demand for palm oil.
But traders took comfort from rising palm oil exports that
could help trim inventories in Malaysia, the world's second
largest palm producer, where stocks stood at 2.44 million tonnes
at the end of February.
"Today we see a technical bounce from an oversold market,"
said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"Slightly better export figures may improve expectation of lower
stocks, but we need to watch out because the export rise could
be due to more working days in March, compared to February."
By the market close, the benchmark June contract on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.9 percent
to 2,382 ringgit ($772) per tonne. Prices fee as low as 2,335
ringgit on Monday, the lowest in almost three months.
Total traded volume stood at 34,406 lots of 25 tonnes each,
a tad lower than the average 35,000 lots seen so far this year.
Technical analysis indicated palm oil is expected to hover
above a support at 2,339 ringgit for one or two trading
sessions, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Malaysia's exports of palm oil products inched up 2.8
percent in March to 1.36 million tonnes from a month ago, cargo
surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday, marking the
first monthly rise in four months.
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance,
reported a steeper 5.5 percent increase to 1.37 million tonnes.
Firm exports raised hopes that palm oil stocks may have eased at
a faster pace in March.
Official data on palm oil stocks, output and exports from
the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, the industry regulator, will be
released on April 10.
In other markets, Brent crude edged above $111 a barrel on
Tuesday as prospects of stronger appetite in Asia countered
concerns over the pace of economic recovery in top consumer the
United States.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery
gained 0.4 percent in late Asian trade. The most active
September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities
Exchange also inched up 0.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1008 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL APR3 2340 +25.00 2311 2340 38
MY PALM OIL MAY3 2375 +43.00 2345 2381 4251
MY PALM OIL JUN3 2382 +45.00 2350 2392 19075
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3 6228 +56.00 6112 6232 663122
CHINA SOYOIL SEP3 7876 +16.00 7810 7880 630634
CBOT SOY OIL MAY3 50.24 +0.18 49.84 50.28 9018
NYMEX CRUDE MAY3 97.13 +0.06 96.62 97.18 16393
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
($1=3.087 ringgit)