Market awaits MPOB data as VEGOILS - Palm ends at 17-week-low

Malaysian palm oils futures closed at their lowest level in seventeen weeks on Wednesday. The market was weighed down due to rival oils traded at Dalian and the high end-stocks of October, as well as the lack of fresh monthly data.

The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in January on the Bursa Derivatives exchange lost 34 ringgit or 0.82% to 4,109 Ringgit ($972.77) per metric ton.

The prices were slightly higher at midday, as the market awaited new palm data and information. The upward movement was capped by persistent concerns about the high palm end stocks in October, said a Kuala Lumpur based trader.

On November 10, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release its monthly statistics.

Malaysian palm oil inventories are likely to have reached a new high of two years in October as production soared to the highest level in seven year, surpassing demand for exports.

The stockpiles will have increased by 3.5% in the last month, to 2,44 million tonnes. This is the highest level since October 2023.

Dalian's palm oil contract, which is the most active contract in Dalian, fell by 0.72%. Chicago Board of Trade Soyoil Prices grew by 0.73%

As palm oil competes to gain a share in the global vegetable oils industry, it tracks the price fluctuations of competing edible oils.

Five dealers report that India's imports of palm oil fell to their lowest level in five months in October. This brought the total purchase for 2024-25 to its lowest point in five years, as buyers switched from palm to soyoil following a rise in palm prices.

Palm oil is less appealing to foreign currency holders because the ringgit has strengthened by 0.14%. $1 = 4.2240 Ringgit (Reporting and editing by Dewi Kurianawati, Rashmi Anich, Sahal Muhammed and Sumana Nady)

(source: Reuters)