RTRS:VEGOILS-Palm oil ends off new 10-month low on swelling stocks
* Futures touch 2,820 ringgit, lowest since Oct 18, 2011
* Better soybean crop conditions could lead to higher
oilseed supply
* Palm oil may hover above 2,838 ringgit -technicals
* Coming up: Malaysia Aug 1-15 export data on Wednesday
(Updates prices)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil
futures hit a fresh 10-month low on Tuesday as improving output
and slower exports in the Southeast Asian country stirred
concerns over swelling stocks.
On top of that, recent rains in the United States that could
raise harvest forecasts for soybeans helped ease some concerns
over tightening global oilseed supply and weighed on edible oil
markets in Asian trade.
Traders also avoided taking long positions ahead of export
data for the first half of August due on Wednesday.
"Tomorrow's exports are unlikely to be good, and production
could climb even higher in August. Prices should be supported at
the 2,800-ringgit level," said a dealer with a foreign
commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
At closing, benchmark October palm oil futures on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 0.5 percent to
2,858 ringgit ($918). The contract earlier touched a low of
2,820 ringgit, a level not seen since Oct 18 last year.
Total traded volumes were high at 31,724 lots of 25 tonnes
each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots.
On the technicals front, palm oil has support at 2,838
ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Malaysia's palm oil inventory level touched its highest
since February at nearly two million tonnes in July, snapping
four straight months of losses, thanks to improving output and
lacklustre demand.
But rising production may not last till the end of the year
with Australia's weather bureau on Tuesday saying El Nino was in
its early stages, potentially bringing dry weather to Southeast
Asia and hurting some palm oil output.
The market will be watching fresh export data on Wednesday
after a sluggish showing for the first 10 days of August.
Weaker demand from China and Europe has also weighed on
Indonesia as the top palm oil producer lowered its estimate for
exports to 17.6 million tonnes in 2012, an official from the
Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said late on
Monday.
Brent crude held steady above $113 per barrel on Tuesday as
investors awaited data out of Europe to gauge the region's
energy demand outlook, while escalating tensions in the Middle
East supported prices.
Other vegetable markets traded lower as the U.S. soybean
crop condition improved. By 1006 GMT, the most active U.S.
soyoil contract for December delivery had lost 0.1
percent and the most active January 2013 soyoil contract
on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had lost 0.6 percent.
"The U.S. dry weather situation has eased a little.
Hopefully we can expect better soybean crop conditions in coming
months," said Huang Zhi Qiang, an analyst with Guotai Junan
Futures in Shanghai.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1006 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG2 2787 -30.00 2787 2787 16
MY PALM OIL SEP2 2811 -19.00 2776 2815 1199
MY PALM OIL OCT2 2858 -13.00 2820 2860 15347
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3 7690 -88.00 7588 7748 403238
CHINA SOYOIL JAN3 9684 -60.00 9608 9716 648882
CBOT SOY OIL DEC2 53.69 -0.07 53.39 53.85 5959
NYMEX CRUDE SEP2 93.04 +0.31 92.56 93.53 17600
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
