CPO FUTURES END HIGHER ON BARGAIN BUYING, SOYBEAN OIL GAINS

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed on a strong note on Wednesday, driven by bargain buying and spillover gains from Chicago Board of Trade’s (CBOT) soybean oil futures, and overnight energy prices.

Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani, however, noted that the market still lacks confidence in the bullish palm oil outlook.

"This is attributed to ongoing long liquidation by Chinese funds in the Dalian Commodity Exchange's refined, bleached, and deodorised (RBD) palm oil futures, a lack of destination buying, stronger-than-expected production growth, and a decline in Malaysian palm oil exports," he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Fastmarkets Palm Oil Analytics senior analyst Dr Sathia Varqa said that CPO futures closed slightly higher today after bargain-buying momentum subsided and traders pulled back, weighed down by the fundamentals of increased production.

“The fundamentals of higher March production, coupled with lower exports, have been holding back gains, leaving traders to bet on rising end-of-month stocks,” he said.

At the close, the April 2025 contract rose RM24 to RM4,588 per tonne, May 2025 increased by RM12 to RM4,389 per tonne, and June 2025 gained RM14 to RM4,259 per tonne.

July 2025 advanced by RM19 to RM4,165 per tonne, August 2025 rose by RM20 to RM4,101 per tonne, and September 2025 climbed RM16 to RM4,061 per tonne.

Trading volume fell to 70,956 lots from 103,859 lots on Tuesday, while open interest declined to 255,190 contracts from 257,257 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for April South was RM20 higher at RM4,700 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA