CPO FUTURES EXTEND GAINS ON STRONG SOY OIL RALLY

By Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives continued to gain on Friday, fuelled by a bullish rally in the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soy oil futures overnight, according to an analyst.

Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani said the uptrend was further supported by spillover gains from the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) refined, bleached, and deodorised (RBD) palm olein futures.

“Gains during today’s Asian trading hours have triggered strong short-covering and bargain buying in CPO futures ahead of the long weekend.

“On Thursday night (Asian time zone), CBOT soy oil futures skyrocketed after news broke that the Donald Trump administration had asked oil and biofuels producers to hash out a deal on the next phase of the nation’s biofuels policy,” he told Bernama.

Agreeing with Anilkumar, palm oil trader David Ng said CPO futures rallied above RM4,400 per tonne on stronger soybean oil prices and expectations of weaker-than-expected output in the coming weeks.

“The stronger soybean oil prices were driven mainly by Trump’s biofuel policies, which are expected to spur higher demand for soybean oil.

“Hence, we see support at RM4,350 per tonne and resistance at RM4,550 per tonne,” he said.

At the close, the April 2025 contract rose RM70 to RM4,762 per tonne, May 2025 increased by RM100 to RM4,551 per tonne, and June 2025 gained RM107 to RM4,419 per tonne.

July 2025 advanced by RM105 to RM4,312 per tonne, August 2025 rose by RM101 to RM4,239 per tonne, and September 2025 climbed RM98 to RM4,200 per tonne.

Trading volume fell to 89,655 lots from 90,089 lots on Wednesday, while open interest inched up to 258,352 contracts from 256,266 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for April South was RM70 higher at RM4,830 per tonne.

Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will be closed on March 31 and April 1 in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri public holidays, subject to the official announcement by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal.

-- BERNAMA