VEGOILS-Palm rises on strong export demand

Malaysian palm futures rose on Monday due to the strong export demand in recent weeks, which has increased traders' confidence.

At the midday break, the benchmark palm oil contract on Bursa Derivatives Exchange for December delivery gained 19 ringgit or 0.43% to 4,415 Ringgit ($1,048.69). The contract dropped by 0.97% during the previous session.

Crude palm futures rose as strong export performances seen in recent weeks supported market sentiment. David Ng is a proprietary trader with Kuala Lumpur based trading firm Iceberg X Sdn Bhd.

The cargo surveyors estimate that the exports of palm oil products from Malaysia for the period September 1-25 increased between 11.3% to 12.9% in comparison with a similar period one month earlier. On Tuesday, cargo surveyors will also release their September export estimates.

Dalian's palm oil contract, which is the most active contract, fell by 0.28%. Chicago Board of Trade soyoil prices were down by 0.2%.

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

Oil prices fell by nearly 1% as Iraq's Kurdistan region resumed crude exports via Turkey at the weekend, and OPEC+ planned to increase oil production in November.

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

The palm ringgit's trade currency strengthened by 0.21% against dollars, increasing the price of the commodity for buyers who hold foreign currencies.

Dorab Mistry, an industry analyst, said that India's edible oils imports are expected to increase by 4.6% in 2025/26 to a new record of 17.1 million metric tonnes, mainly due to the increased purchases of palm oil by the world's biggest vegetable oil buyer.

Thomas Mielke, a leading industry analyst, said that tightening supply will cause palm oil and soybean oil prices to increase by $100 to 150 per metric ton from January to June 2026.

Technical analyst Wang Tao stated that palm oil could fall between 4,342 and 4,366 ringgit for a metric ton after failing to rise above the peak of wave b, which was 4,479, ringgit.

(source: Reuters)