Palm oil mostly lower in thin European trading

Palm oil mostly lower in thin European trading

LONDON (Reuters): Palm oil prices were mostly lower at midday yesterday following the easier close in Chicago overnight and in Malaysia.

Talk that India may tender later this week gave the market some support, but movements in either direction were limited.

"They have been talking that India will tender later this week if the market keep going down, but the Malaysian market came off the bottom towards the close on the back of possibility of an Indian tender," said one trader.

News that the Indonesian state commodity regulator Bulog had bought 55,411 ton of olein from private and state-run companies through a tender to boost cooking oil stocks was seen as a positive sign by European traders.

Bulog chairman Beddu Amang said that a tender will be held every Tuesday until prices in the local market stabilize at around 3,900-4,000 rupiah/Kg.

In Europe traders said there was still no real market for crude palm oil with sellers just adding around $20 a ton to the prices of cif RBD palm oil.

At midday crude palm oil cif Europe was $2.50 to $5 down while RBD palm oil was $5 to $7.50 lower.

FOB prices were also lower with RBD palm oil $2.50 down to unchanged after early Aug traded at $622.50 a ton fob Malaysian ports.

Olein was $5 to $7.50 down after Aug traded at $660, Sep at $650, Oct at $632.50 and Oct/Dec at $617.50 a ton fob Malaysian ports.

Palm stearin sellers were $10 down after Aug traded at $445 a ton fob Malaysian ports.

Lauric oils were little changed at $7.50 up to $2.50 down for coconut oil and $5 lower for palmkernel oil.

Chicago soybeans hit a three-year low overnight on forecasts of continuing good weather in the U.S. midwest which resulted in Europe sellers taking around 0.50 guilders out of their soy and rape oil prices in a tradeless market.