KL palm oil cool, focus on China

KL palm oil cool, focus on China

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil futures rebounded at the close on Wednesday amid prospects of more buying from China when it releases the second batch of import quotas in June, traders said.

Benchmark third-month August futures ended up two ringgit at 794 ringgit ($208.95) a ton after trading as low as 784 ringgit on overnight losses in Chicago.

Volume stood at 1,516 lots compared with 1,411 on Tuesday.

"The market went down in the morning because of the CBOT, but people started buying again in the afternoon because of China's import quotas," said one trader in Kuala Lumpur.

"People also talked about North Korea, but I don't have details," he added.

The national Bernama news agency reported the official Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board were holding a seminar on Wednesday in North Korea.

Traders and analysts in China said the country was expected to issue new palm oil quotas this month and increase its imports in the next three months, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.

In the physical sector, June crude palm oil for the southern and central regions was offered at 780 ringgit a ton against bids at 775, and deals were reported at 770 to 777.50 for south and at 770 to 772.50 for central.

Among refined products, June RBD palm oil was offered at $222.50 a ton FOB and July at $225.

There were offers for June/July RBD olein at $240 a ton. June RBD palm stearin was offered at $172.50 and June palm fatty acid distillate at $142.50.