RTRS:CORRECTED-VEGOILS-Palm oil hits new 10-month low on swelling stocks
(Corrects paragraph 8 to show that palm oil inventories snapped
four months of losses, not gains)
* Futures touch 2,820 ringgit, lowest since Oct 18, 2011
* Better soybean crop condition 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
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.
Recent rains in the U.S. that could raise harvest forecasts
for soybeans also 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.
By the midday break, the benchmark October palm oil futures
on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 1.3
percent to 2,835 ringgit ($909). The contract earlier touched a
low at 2,820 ringgit, a level unseen since Oct 18 last year.
Total traded volumes were thin at 9,949 lots of 25 tonnes
each, compared to the usual 12,500 lots.
Palm oil technically faces a support at 2,838 ringgit, and
may hover above this level for another session, Reuters market
analyst Wang Tao said.
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 as Australia's weather bureau said 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 futures held steady above $113 on Tuesday as investors
awaited GDP data out of two of Europe's powerhouse economies to
gauge the region's energy demand outlook, while tensions in the
Middle East supported prices.
Other vegetable markets traded lower as the U.S. soybean
crop condition improved. By 0522 GMT, the most active U.S.
soyoil contract for December delivery had lost 0.5
percent and the most active January 2013 soyoil contract
on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had lost 0.8 percent.
"The U.S. dry weather situation has eased a little.
Hopefully we can expect better soybean crop condition in coming
months," said Huang Zhi Qiang, an analyst with Guotai Junan
Futures in Shanghai.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0522 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG2 2787 -30.00 2787 2787 16
MY PALM OIL SEP2 2784 -46.00 2776 2799 29
MY PALM OIL OCT2 2835 -36.00 2820 2860 6768
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3 7636 -142.00 7634 7748 195258
CHINA SOYOIL JAN3 9664 -80.00 9658 9716 326146
CBOT SOY OIL DEC2 53.49 -0.26 53.48 53.85 2700
NYMEX CRUDE SEP2 92.84 +0.11 92.56 93.00 4721
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=3.12 Malaysian ringgit)