THE ccontract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to stay at the current level next week, driven mainly by the latest supply and demand data scheduled in the next few days.rude palm oil (CPO) futures
Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics owner and co-founder Dr Sathia Varqa said the markets would focus on the Malaysia Palm Oil Board estimates for February supply and demand data ahead of the actual data due on March 10.
“We are expecting a sharply higher output, plunging exports and soaring stocks, and we expect production to rise between 10 to 12% month-on-month,” he told Bernama.
Sathia said exports are likely to fall between 10 to 13% mainly due to lower shipments to India and the Indian sub-continent.
According to independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia, exports of Malaysian palm oil products for the Feb1-25 period fell three per cent to 981,073 tonnes from 1,011,515 tonnes shipped during Jan 1-25 period.
For the week just ended, the market fell sharply in nearly 12 years on growing fears over the rapid spread of COVID-19.
The price dropped 9.5% over the week – the lowest since November 2008.
The analyst said palm oil was reeling from global market sell-off in equities, commodities, bonds and currencies pricing, posing an imminent pandemic status of Covid-19 and global recession risk.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the CPO futures contract for March 2020 decreased RM326 to RM2,357 per tonne, April 2020 lost RM320 to RM2,332 per tonne, May 2020 slipped RM303 to RM2,319 per tonne, and June 2020 dropped RM275 to RM2,323 per tonne.
Weekly turnover increased to 385,615 lots from last Friday’s 293,695 lots, while open interest rose to 332,669 contracts from 315,582 contracts.
On the physical market, the CPO price for March South stood at RM2,450 per tonne. – Feb 29, 2020, Bernama
