VEGOILS-Palm climbs to near 2-week high on better export data
(Updates prices, adds SGS exports, adds India palm imports
data)
* Malaysia's April 1-15 palm exports rise 6.7-8.6 pct -
cargo surveyors
* Export demand seen picking up further, prices to rise
above 2,700 rgt -traders
* Palm oil to revisit April 11 low of 2,572 ringgit -
technicals
* Malaysia keeps crude palm oil export tax for May at 5.5
pct
By Anuradha Raghu
KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil
futures climbed to a near two-week high on Tuesday after firm
export data fuelled investor hopes that a recovery in global
demand for the tropical oil will underpin prices.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for the first half of
April rose 8.6 percent to 521,847 tonnes compared with a month
earlier, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said, as
demand from top consumers India and China picked up.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance
showed exports for the same period rose 6.7 percent to 500,057
tonnes.
Market players anticipate palm oil consumption in India,
Pakistan and the Middle East to climb ahead of the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan at end-June, and Eid al-Fitr celebrations in
July.
"Prices are bouncing a little bit as the export data shows
signs of improvement," said a trader with a local commodities
brokerage. "People are not so bearish now because there's
anticipation of good demand in the coming months."
The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia
Derivatives Exchange touched 2,669 ringgit on Tuesday, its
highest since April 2, before settling at 2,665 ringgit ($822)
per tonne by day's close, a 1.1 percent rise.
The Kuala Lumpur-based trader added that prices of refined
palm olein could climb higher in the coming months as prices of
crude palm oil pick up. Refined, bleached and deodorized palm
olein was trading at $860 on Tuesday.
"The market is expecting more short-covering and for prices
to surge above 2,700 ringgit," another Kuala Lumpur-based trader
said.
Total traded volume stood at 34,660 lots of 25 tonnes, just
below the average 35,000 lots.
Technicals, however, were bearish. Malaysian palm oil is
expected to revisit its April 11 low of 2,572 ringgit per tonne,
as it could have completed a rebound from this level, said
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
India's palm imports rose 35 percent in March from a month
ago, data from the Solvent Extractors' Association showed on
Tuesday, with purchases from the top edible oil buyer expected
to surge in May as demands builds up before Ramadan.
Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, has
kept its crude palm oil export tax for May at 5.5 percent, the
same as a month ago, according to a government
circular.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract
for May slipped 0.1 percent in late Asian trade, while
the most active September soybean oil contract on the
Dalian Commodities Exchange fell 0.8 percent.
In other markets, Brent crude fell below $109 a barrel on
Tuesday as investors weighed tension between Russia and Ukraine
and the prospect of a gradual recovery in Libyan oil exports.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1015 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL APR4 2670 +0.00 2660 2680 16
MY PALM OIL MAY4 2693 +26.00 2653 2697 937
MY PALM OIL JUN4 2665 +30.00 2620 2669 15381
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP4 6086 -26.00 6058 6130 462390
CHINA SOYOIL SEP4 6930 -58.00 6928 7014 574800
CBOT SOY OIL MAY4 42.21 -0.05 42.10 42.44 3448
NYMEX CRUDE MAY4 103.11 -0.94 102.91 103.65 20353
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.241 Malaysian ringgit)
($1 = 6.2220 Chinese yuan)
(Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)
