MUMBAI (Commoditiescontrol) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended slightly higher on Thursday, snapping their 3-day losing streak, tracking firmness in US soyoil and on technical buying.
However, bearish S&D data and a stronger Ringgit limited the upside. A stronger Ringgit, palm's currency of trade, makes the edible oil more expensive for foreign buyers.
The September benchmark crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (BMD), was up Ringgit 2 at 1,939 a tonne by the close after moving in the range of Ringgit 1,947 and Ringgit 1,921.
In other related oils, the CBOT December soybean oil futures were trading higher in electronic trade on Thursday as traders adjusted positions before a monthly US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report due later today in which analysts expect the government to lower its 2019 US yield estimates for soybeans.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Wednesday that palm oil inventories in Malaysia, at the end of June stood at 2.42 million tonnes, down 0.97 percent from the previous month, its fourth straight monthly drop. End-May palm oil stocks were at 2.45 million tonnes.
While market was expecting even higher decline in stockpiles.
The MPOB data showed output fell 9.17 percent to 1.52 million tonnes in June from 1.67 million tonnes in May. While June exports were down 19.35 percent from May to 1.38 million tonnes. Exports were at 1.71 million tonnes in May.
Furthermore, AmSpec Agri Malaysia said on Wednesday that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for July 1-10 fell by 2.35 percent to 367,950 tonnes from 376,802 tonnes during the same period in June. ITS and SGS also reported 1.49 and 2.9 percent decline in exports for the same period, respectively.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau)