RTRS:VEGOILS-Palm oil hits 1-week high as exports recover
* Malaysia's July palm exports up 4.2 pct m/m -ITS
* Prices post monthly drop at 4.5 pct, biggest since Feb
(Updates prices)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
rose to a one-week high on Wednesday, supported by a recovery in
export demand, although gains were capped by prospects of higher
global oilseed supplies.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in July edged up 4.2
percent to 1,406,935 tonnes from 1,350,311 tonnes shipped during
June, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.
Traders said the reversal in exports trend from a 24 percent
decline in the July 1-15 period provided some support for palm
oil prices, which posted a 4.5 percent monthly loss amid
projections for a bumper soy crop in the U.S. Midwest.
"The full-month exports figure was surprisingly higher after
weaker exports during the first half of the month. The demand
recovery was partly why the market has been able to gain so fast
and recover 100 ringgit within two days," said a trader with a
foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
"But weakness in the grains complex means market
participants are not going to be too optimistic."
At market close, the benchmark October contract on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged up 1 percent
to 2,238 ringgit ($690) per tonne. Prices earlier rose to as
high as 2,245 ringgit, a level last seen on July 24.
Total traded volume stood at 30,323 lots of 25 tonnes each,
lower than the average 35,000 lots.
Palm prices, which typically track soy markets in the United
States and China, fell to the lowest in nearly 4 years this
month as ideal weather conditions in the U.S. Midwest bolstered
hopes for higher soybean oil supplies.
But traders were pinning hopes on a weaker ringgit to
bolster demand as the ringgit-priced feedstock becomes cheaper
for overseas buyers and refiners.
The Malaysian currency plunged to a three-year low against
the dollar on Wednesday after rating agency Fitch downgraded the
country's credit outlook.
In other markets, Brent crude slipped towards $106 per
barrel on Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of a U.S.
Federal Reserve meeting and economic data to gauge the oil
demand outlook from the world's top consumer.
In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for
December rose 0.8 percent in late Asian trade. The
most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian
Commodities Exchange gained 1.2 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL AUG3 2280 -3.00 2270 2281 172
MY PALM OIL SEP3 2262 +6.00 2251 2281 2885
MY PALM OIL OCT3 2238 +23.00 2217 2245 18439
CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5424 +90.00 5346 5468 672746
CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7030 +86.00 6934 7064 941810
CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 43.03 +0.34 42.63 43.14 6972
NYMEX CRUDE SEP3 103.37 +0.29 103.08 103.73 20996
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=3.245 ringgit)