KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives extended its decline on Thursday, weighed down by weaker edible soft oils and cautious trading ahead of April’s palm oil data on Friday.

Fastmarkets Palm Oil Analytics senior analyst Sathia Varqa said the decline reflects cautious positioning ahead of the industry data due on May 10, focusing on the extent of April’s production rise.

“Weakness in the May 1-10 exports also contributed to the pessimistic outlook on prices, as the market foresees that exports are set to fall by 20-25% compared with the April 1-10 period,” he told Bernama.

Palm oil trader David Ng attributed the weaker CPO performance to concerns over rising output and weak demand in the coming weeks, which will elevate the country’s overall stock level.

“We see support at RM3,800 a tonne and resistance at RM3,950 a tonne,” he said.

At the close, the spot-month contract for May 2024 and June 2024 dropped RM34 to RM3,923 a tonne and RM3,860 a tonne, respectively, and July 2024 fell RM38 to RM3,831 a tonne.

The August 2024 note decreased by RM33 to RM3,827 a tonne, September 2024 eased RM31 to RM3,827 a tonne, while October 2024 went down by RM28 to RM3,833 a tonne.

Total volume slipped to 48,976 from Wednesday’s 87,832 lots, while open interest rose to 220,917 contracts from 220,803 previously.

The physical CPO price for May South was RM40 lower at RM3,930 a tonne.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/711013