CPO FUTURES LIKELY TO TRADE LOWER NEXT WEEK AMID SELL-OFF IN GLOBAL COMMODITY MARKETS

By Engku Shariful Azni Engku Ab Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade with a bearish bias, given the sell-off in global commodity markets, said palm oil trader David Ng.

He added that the US tariff announcement and weaker soybean oil prices also will pressure palm oil prices next week.

“Lower demand for palm oil, mainly from the US market, coupled with seasonally weaker demand from India and China, will weigh down sentiment,” he said.

“We expect prices to trade within the RM4,100 and RM4,400 per tonne range,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said CPO prices are likely to trade between RM3,800 and RM3,900 per tonne, as the market will remain cautious due to the US tariff announcement.

However, he noted that CPO physical stock levels are healthy, with no shortages reported in the market.

“We look forward to the stock position report from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for March 2025 industry performance, which will be released on April 10, 2025,” he said.

Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed on March 31 and April 1 in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri public holidays.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the spot month April 2025 contract slipped by RM60 to RM4,702 per tonne, May 2025 shed by RM77 to RM4,474 per tonne, and June 2025 fell by RM91 to RM4,328 per tonne.

July 2025 dropped by RM82 to RM4,230 per tonne, while August 2025 and September 2025 slid by RM76 each to RM4,163 and RM4,124 per tonne, respectively.

Weekly trading volume tumbled to 234,581 lots from 441,127 lots last week, while open interest narrowed to 256,769 contracts from 258,352 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for April South was RM50 lower at RM4,780 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA