Malaysian palm oil ends little changed, choppy

Malaysian palm oil ends little changed, choppy

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil futures closed little changed after a choppy session on Wednesday, with technical buying and short covering lifting prices from earlier lows, traders said.

Weaker export data for Nov. 1-15 had dragged prices lower after the market started on a firmer note on the back of overnight gains in Chicago soyoil futures.

"Players are generally cautious due to uncertainty over the near-term direction. But there was good support at the lower levels, so we feel the downside is quite limited," said a trader.

The benchmark January contract ended down two ringgit at 834 ringgit (US$219.47) a ton after trading between 824 and 840 ringgit.

November and December closed unchanged at 800 and 820 ringgit respectively.

Physical November (south) crude palm oil was offered at 795 ringgit a ton against bids of 790, and traded between 785 and 795 ringgit.

Among refined products, November and December RBD palm oil were offered at $230 a ton FOB.

There were offers for November and December RBD palm olein at $250.

November RBD palm stearin was offered at $190 and December at $195. November palm fatty acid distillate was offered at $135.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (SGS) said Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 15 days of November were 415,505 tonnes, compared with 458,101 for the same period in October.

Official output, stocks and export figures for October had little impact on the market.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said palm oil output in October rose 6.66 percent from the previous month to 1.18 million tonnes.

End-October stocks were up 2.85 percent from the previous month to 1.41 million tonnes, while exports in October reached 1.0 million tonnes compared with 791,149 tonnes in September.

Uncertainty over the timing of a rise in Indian vegetable oil import duties continued to undermine the market.

India's domestic vegetable oil industry has been expecting an increase in import duties of palm oil and other oils following a surge in cheap imports.

India's Food Minister Shanta Kumar earlier this month said the government would take an early decision to raise import duties on edible oils, but set no date for the announcement.