KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil investors will be keeping a close watch on export data for February to gauge demand from the crop’s biggest buyers, India and China, CGS-CIMB Futures Sdn Bhd said.
It said eyes would be focusing on the official data on supplies and exports to be released on Wednesday, by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
“Futures are rising mainly on some surveys that indicate a further decline in Malaysian stockpiles,” an analyst said in a note on Monday.
He said that palm oil futures advanced further on expectations that inventories in second-biggest producer Malaysia will tumble to their lowest since 2007 as recent floods and scarce labour curbed yields.
According to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services, Malaysian shipments jumped 77 per cent in the Feb 1-5 period from a month ago, led by stronger demand from Europe, Africa and India.
Citing the overnight news from Brownfield Ag News, he said that soybean oil futures were mixed, mostly higher, on commercial spread trade.
On canola oil futures, Canada statistics reported that stocks at the end of 2020 were 12.14 million tonnes, a drop of 23.7 per cent from the end of 2019 due to a smaller crop and strong demand, especially from China, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.
Canada’s soybean stocks were 3.688 million tonnes, a year-to-year decline of 9.0 per cent. Soybean meal was lower on profit-taking and bean oil was mixed on spread adjustments inside the pit. – Bernama
