FCPO Related News (Fri, May 31)

[Malaysia May Palm Oil Exports 1.26 Million Tons,  Down 3.3% on Month –ITS]

[Malaysia May 1-25 Palm Oil Exports 1.061 Million Tons,  Down 2.1% on Month –SGS]

[Malaysia May 1-25 Palm Oil Exports 1.064 Million Tons, Down 5.2% on Month – ITS]

Crude palm oil futures on Malaysia’s derivatives exchange end down on profit-taking and concerns about a weak growth outlook for China. "Market chatter put overall May exports at 1.26 million tons, a decline of around 2%-3%," which is not as steep as the first 20 days and has helped underpin the market, a trading executive in Kuala Lumpur says. Buyers usually boost purchases of palm oil–used to make a wide variety of consumer products ranging from cooking oil to margarine–ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in July this year, as food consumption tends to rise thanks to communal feasts after dawn-to-dusk fasting.

Brokers tip palm oil to trade around near-term support-resistance levels of MYR2,370/ton and MYR2,430/ton Friday. Cargo surveyors Intertek and SGS will also issue May export data Friday. Benchmark August CPO ends down 1.1% at MYR2,372/ton; CBOT July soyoil is down 1.1% at 48.52 cents/lb in screen trade.    

[Dow Jones Newswire]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged down on Thursday, slipping from a two-month high hit the day before as weaker overseas markets and slower demand for commodities weighed on the tropical oil, and as investors booked profits. Soy markets in the United States, tracked by palm, extended losses from the previous day following news that China, the world's largest buyer of soybeans, had cancelled a 147,000 tonne order for U.S. soy.

The benchmark August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended 1.1 percent lower at 2,372 per tonne. Prices traded in a tight 2,371-2,396 ringgit range, while total traded volumes stood at 22,280 lots of 25 tonnes each, just below an average 25,000 lots. "The market has been going up for so many days -- today it's the first day down, following weaker overseas markets," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "The market is also down due to a technical correction and profit taking," he added. Palm prices touched 2,420 ringgit on Wednesday, their highest since March 28, as investors anticipated tight supplies and a demand pick-up ahead of a Muslim festival, which would help trim stocks in No.2 producer Malaysia.

Technicals showed palm oil is expected to end the current correction above a support at 2,362 ringgit per tonne and then rise towards Wednesday's 2,420 ringgit high, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said. Investors hope the Ramadan fasting month in July, when communal feasting usually boosts consumption, will nudge up demand of the edible oil that is widely used in food items ranging from chocolate to cookies. Market players will study export data for May, which will be released by cargo surveyors on Friday, to gauge demand. Exports of palm oil products have been sluggish this month due partly to weak demand from China. "Exports could be down between 2-3 percent for May," the Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. "Toward the Ramadan month, normally India, Pakistan and the Middle East buys more. But this time they are not."

In other markets, oil prices eased towards $102 a barrel on Thursday and were on track for a third straight month of losses amid a tepid global demand outlook and abundant supplies in the United States. In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July delivery slipped 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange ended down 1 percent.          [Reuters] 

Today's Support and Resistance for benchmark FCPO August contract is located around 2,366 and 2,395 respectively.

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