Malaysia palm oil ends down, tests resistance

Malaysia palm oil ends down, tests resistance

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil futures briefly broke the 800 ringgit resistance level on higher Chicago soyoil prices, but were forced to return to negative territory by Friday's close on bearish crop data.

"Ivan Wong's figures are so unfriendly. People are now worried about local inventory because production stays on the high side," said one trader.

"China's new import quota doesn't seem to help much. We see that Wong's June exports estimates only show a slight increase compared with May," he added.

China is expected to release the second batch of palm oil import quotas soon.

Benchmark August futures ended down 11 ringgit at 785 ringgit ($206.58) a ton after trading as high as 801.

Volume stood at 1,490 lots compared with 1,113 on Thursday.

Wong said Malaysia's palm oil output was estimated to have risen 6.4 percent to 981,000 tons in May from a month earlier.

He put end-May stocks at 1.22 million tons, up from 1.19 million at the end of April. Exports in May were estimated at 820,000 tons against 835,160 in April.

In the physical sector, June crude palm oil for the southern region was offered at 785 ringgit a ton against bids at 780 and trade at 780 to 785.

June (CPO) for the central region saw offers at 780 ringgit against bids of 775. Deals were reported at 780 to 782.50.

July crude palm oil for the southern and central regions saw offers at 790 ringgit against bids of 785. Trades were reported at 790 ringgit for both sides.

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

There were offers for June RBD olein at $237.50 a ton and July at $240.

June RBD palm stearin was offered at $175 and June palm fatty acid distillate at $145.