CPO FUTURES TO TRADE SIDEWAYS NEXT WEEK

By Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade sideways next week amid uncertainty over the fresh demand from the destination markets. 

Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani said this is also amid palm oil’s rising premium over soybean oil, which is seen losing its demand appetite.

However, he said palm oil supply is expected to be tight and further tightness could be seen if Indonesia on the ground could start its B40 biodiesel mandate as per the schedule from Jan 01, 2025.

Export duty for CPO, which is currently at US$124 per tonne, could rise to US$178 per tonne, he added.  

“This is the ideal scenario for Malaysian palm oil to hold higher despite the pressure from the weakening soybean oil market. Meanwhile, Malaysian palm oil exports for the Nov 1-15 period are likely to continue to fall by double-digit,” he told Bernama.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the spot-month November 2024 contract decreased by RM9 to RM5,151, December 2024 fell by RM25 to RM5,119, and January 2025 slid by RM13 to RM5,088 per tonne.

Meanwhile, the February 2025 and March 2025 contracts gained RM14 to RM5,053 and RM4,952, respectively, while the April 2025 contract inched up RM9 to RM4,830 per tonne.

Total weekly volume surged to 765,457 lots from 461,460 lots in the preceding week, while open interest fell to 112,146 contracts from 239,911 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for November South rose by RM10 to RM5,170 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA