Palm oil reaches almost a three-week high due to strong soyoil

Supported by higher soyoil, Malaysian palm oil prices rose for the fifth straight session to close at their highest level in nearly three weeks.

The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in January on the Bursa Derivatives Exchange rose 17 ringgit (0.4%) to 4,226 Ringgit ($1,018.80).

Paramalingam Supramaniam said that the contract increased in line with the soybean oil price, but worries about the November demand, and the strength of ringgit, capped gains.

Supramaniam stated that the upper limit will be maintained until more information is available about the November demand, which from the initial figures does not appear to be good.

Dalian's palm oil contract grew by 1.89%, while the most active soyoil contract increased by 0.6%. Chicago Board of Trade soyoil prices were up by 0.08%.

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

The palm ringgit's trade currency strengthened by 0.29% against dollars, making it slightly more expensive to buyers who hold foreign currencies.

The price of oil fell slightly after an industry report revealed higher crude inventories. This reinforced concerns about an oversupply. However, the price declines were somewhat limited due to a tighter market for fuel because of attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.

Palm oil is less appealing as a biodiesel feedstock due to the weaker crude oil futures.

Data published by the European Commission shows that the European Union's soybean imports, which began July 2025/26, fell by 16% to 4.40 million metric tonnes by November 16 compared with the same period last year, and palm oil imports dropped by 18% to reach 1.08 million tons. ($1 = 4.1480 ringgit)

(source: Reuters)