KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) — The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is at the highest level in four months, said Fastmarkets senior analyst Dr Sathia Varqa.
He told Bernama that this is due to the current bad weather conditions in Malaysia affecting the production of crude palm oil.
“As Ramadhan approaches and Indonesia limits exports of crude palm oil, these factors result in higher prices,” he said.
Palm oil trader David Ng said CPO futures rallied above RM4,200 per tonne for the March benchmark contract.
“Concern over the flood situation in certain key areas will likely affect overall production of crude palm oil.
“We locate support at RM4,250 and the next resistance at RM4,500,” he said.
Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani shared that there is still a possibility that rain and flooding will continue in some areas and palm oil production in both Malaysia and Indonesia is likely to suffer this month.
MetMalaysia, in a statement issued today, said continuous heavy rain is expected to hit several areas in Pahang and Johor until Saturday.
At today’s close, March 2023 contract rose RM124 to RM4,270 per tonne, April 2023 jumped RM113 to RM4,286 and May 2023 climbed RM112 to RM4,294.
June 2023 was up RM106 to RM4,271 per tonne, July 2023 increased RM90 to RM4,227 and August was RM82 higher at RM4,178.
Total volume jumped to 85,900 lots from 47,502 lots on Wednesday while open interest also increased to 169,369 contracts from 165,405 contracts previously.
The physical CPO price for March South jumped RM100 to RM4,300 per tonne.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency