Asian palm oil marts seen in trading range<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Asian palm oil prices are likely to be
\nrange-bound with a downward bias this week, as uncertainty in the
\nfundamental outlook and a lack of fresh leads weigh on the
\nmarket, regional traders said.<\/p>\n
The market is also waiting for news from the third annual Asia
\nPacific Vegetable Oil, Oilseeds and Meal Market conference in
\nKuala Lumpur on April 23 and 24, they said.<\/p>\n
Indonesian traders said consumer demand is seen weak in the
\naftermath of the Moslem Eid al-Adha celebration on Friday.<\/p>\n
"To the extent that production in Indonesia and Malaysia
\nremains strong, it's hard to see prices moving up," a trader for
\na U.S. commodity company in Singapore said. "I think the PORLA
\nreport showed a very strong uptrend in production."<\/p>\n
Last week, the Palm Oil Registration and Licensing Authority
\n(PORLA) said Malaysia's output in March was up 35.71 percent to
\n683,196 tons. The market is expecting output to increase in
\ncoming months due to a seasonal uptrend.<\/p>\n
Production normally peaks in October\/November.<\/p>\n
Traders in Malaysia were uncertain over the fundamental
\noutlook and were concerned about the small end-March stocks of
\n689,633 tons released by PORLA last week.<\/p>\n
"Due to all these uncertainties, we expect the market to drift
\nin a tight range with prices having a tendency to move
\ndownwards," said one Malaysian trader.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's third month July futures closed on Thursday at
\n1,262 ringgit a ton, and is expected to trade between 1,235 and
\n1,275 ringgit. The market was closed on Friday.<\/p>\n
A trader in Singapore said it will be difficult for the July
\nfutures contract to break out of its 1,235-1,275 ringgit a ton
\nrange in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
Another dealer said that with palm oil output rising and the
\ncommodity still seen as more expensive than soy oil, "It's hard
\nfor palm to rally under these conditions."<\/p>\n
"We seem to keep moving the range lower and lower. I'd say
\nwe'll be moving the range down to 1,220 to 1,250 ringgit soon,"
\nthe trader added.<\/p>\n
Buying from traditional consumers of palm oil will probably
\nremain steady this week, but no large purchases are seen lifting
\nthe market out of its bearish rut, Singaporean dealers said.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, traders said demand will be weak after the Eid
\nal-Adha celebrations.<\/p>\n
"The outlook for this week is hazy...demand is expected to
\nreturn to normal after Eid al-Adha," a trader said. "I don't
\nthink there will be any significant changes to prices next
\nweek...they should remain stable."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asian-palm-oil-marts-seen-in-trading-range-1447893297",
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