Palm oil gains over 4% on the back of higher crude oil prices
Malaysian palm futures gained on Friday and posted a second week of gains. This was due to a rise in crude oil prices as a result of the Middle East conflict, which boosted demand for feedstocks used to make biodiesel.
The benchmark May palm oil contract on the Bursa Derivatives Exchange rose 23 ringgit or 0.51% to 4,564 Ringgit ($1,159.26), and was up 4.69% over the week.
The biggest daily increase in three years was a surge of more than 9% on Monday.
Dalian's most active soyoil contract grew by 0.53% while its palm oil contract grew by 0.62%. Chicago Board of Trade Soyoil lost 0.55%.
As it competes to gain a share of the global vegetable oils market, palm oil monitors the 'price movements' of its rival edible oils.
The oil prices continued to climb on Friday, and are on course for a weekly gain as the Middle East conflict and disruptions of the Gulf war outweighed U.S. measures and International Energy Agency efforts to ease supply concerns.
APROBI, Indonesia’s biofuel producers' association, is expecting a road test to blend 50% palm-based Biodiesel, or B50. This will be completed no sooner than the previous energy ministry target of June or July.
The palm oil association GAPKI reported that Indonesian crude palm oil production will reach 51.66 million metric tons in 2025. This is an increase of 7.3% over the previous year.
India's palm-oil imports in February?soared 11%, reaching a six month high. A wider discount against rival oils encouraged refiners and oil companies to increase purchases.
A circular posted on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's website revealed that Malaysia had raised its April "crude palm oil" reference price. This change increased the export duty from 5% to 9.5%.
(source: Reuters)
