Palm jumps on stronger rival oils, US report

Malaysian palm oil futures rose more than 2% on Wednesday, tracking gains in rival edible oils and buoyed by a supportive US report on world agricultural supply and demand estimates.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange climbed 102 ringgit, or 2.22%, to 4,695 ringgit ($1,051.28) a metric ton by the midday break.

Malaysian markets were closed on Tuesday for a holiday. Crude palm oil futures were lifted by a stronger rival oilseeds market and a neutral to bullish World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) oilseeds report from the U.S Department of Agriculture, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 0.42%, while its palm oil contract added 1.19%.

Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.67%.

Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

European Union soybean imports for the 2024/25 season, which began in July, totalled 8.36 million metric tons by February 9, marking a 10% increase compared with the previous year.

Meanwhile, palm oil imports reached 1.73 million tons, a 21% decline from the same period last year, according to data from the European Commission.

China’s agriculture ministry kept its forecasts for corn, soybeans and other key crops in the 2024/25 crop year largely unchanged in its February outlook, with a minor revision to soybean planted acreage from 10.321 million hectares to 10.325 million hectares.

Oil prices fell as an industry report showed an increase in US crude stockpiles and tariff worries weighed on sentiment.

The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, traded unchanged against the U.S dollar.

Tags: Malaysia, palm oil, futures, benchmark contract, soyoil