Crude Palm Oil Prices Ease After Soaring, Why?
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Crude Palm Oil (CPO) prices eased after surging. Refinitiv quotes CPO prices on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, at 10:45 WIB, at MYR 4,159 per tonne, down 0.65%. This softening ends a three-day rally that had gained 4.5% over that period.
On the global commodities market, other vegetable oils rose.
Crude palm prices usually track moves in other vegetable oils because these commodities compete in the global edible oil market, particularly with soybean oil and sunflower oil.
India’s imports surged, Malaysia’s exports pressured
On the demand side, India’s palm oil imports in February rose 10.1% from January, marking the highest level in six months. The jump was driven by discounts on palm oil that outweighed competing vegetable oils. Meanwhile, imports of sunflower oil were also under pressure.
Yet amid positive sentiment from India, Malaysia’s export data fell. According to reports from Intertek Testing Services and AmSpec Agri Malaysia, Malaysia’s palm oil product exports in February were down between 21.5% and 25.5%.
Meanwhile, Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, posted solid export performance. Exports of crude and processed palm oil in January reached 2.24 million tonnes, up 77.07% year-on-year, with shipments valued at US$2.29 billion.
Palm oil supported by oil price rally
Additional support for CPO prices comes from the energy market. Global crude oil prices rose for the third consecutive day as geopolitical tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran escalated, and threats to shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz. This raised concerns about supply disruption from the main Middle East producing region.
Rising crude prices typically make palm oil more attractive as a biodiesel feedstock, as it becomes more economically competitive relative to other feedstocks. This could boost additional demand from the energy sector.
On the technical side, Reuters analyst Wang Tao said CPO contracts could test the 4,121 ringgit per tonne support level. If this level is breached, prices could drop more deeply to the range of 4,078 to 4,098 ringgit per tonne.
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