Palm opens lower on soft soyoil prices, inventory data in focus

NEW DELHI: Malaysian palm oil futures opened higher on Monday, reflecting losses in rival soyoil even as market participants await March inventory data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Malaysian palm oil futures decline

The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 10 ringgit, or 0.23%, to 4,333 ringgit ($919.22) a metric ton in early trade.

Fundamentals

• Malaysia’s palm oil inventories are expected to have declined 6.65% from the prior month to an eight-month low of 1.79 million tons at the end of March, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.

• The MPOB is scheduled to release the data on April 15.

• India’s rapeseed and mustard output is likely to rise 7% from last year to a record 12.09 million metric tons in 2024. This will help the world’s biggest vegetable oil importer cut back on edible oil imports.

• Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.3%.

• Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

• Palm oil may slide further into a range of 4,274 ringgit to 4,294 ringgit per metric ton, due to the completion of a five-wave cycle from 3,745 ringgit.