KUALA LUMPUR

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to see range-bound trading with prices to be between RM2,400 and RM2,500 a tonne, said Interband Group of Companies Senior Palm Oil Trader Jim Teh.

He said demand was slightly subdued as buyers from West Asia, Pakistan and India had already stocked up on the edible oil for Ramadan.

Teh also predicted that the trading of the local CPO will be slightly quiet, especially after the Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) increased the overall palm oil tax for July.

The regulator yesterday announced that effective July 1, the CPO export tax will be 6.5% from 6% this month.

Meanwhile, another dealer, quoting Cargo Surveyor Intertek Testing Services, said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1-15 fell 17.6% to 508,960 tonnes from 617,697 tonnes shipped during May 1-15, 2017.

“The MPOB will release May’s production, export and stock data this week. If export figures are favourable, then this will likely drive CPO prices higher," he said.

For the week just-ended, CPO futures prices were traded mostly higher throughout the week, amid the weaker ringgit against the US dollar and tracking the commodity’s performance regionally.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, new Spot July 2017 rose RM103 to RM2,656 a tonne, August 2017 increased RM79 to RM2,536 a tonne, September 2017 advanced RM84 to RM2,484 a tonne, while October 2017 was RM51 higher at RM2,465 a tonne.

Weekly turnover improved to 219,375 lots from 216,427 lots last week and open interest widened to 256,509 contracts from 216,427 contracts.

On the physical market, June South rose RM40 to RM2,770 per tonne.