Palm to trade RM2,200 to RM2,300 next week

Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected
to hover between RM2,200 and RM2,300 per tonne next week amid positive
export data, a trader said.

Interband Group Senior palm oil
trader Jim Teh said Malaysia's export data for the first 25 days of
April was very convincing and it would help to ease the high inventory.

"Despite
China considering reducing its purchase due to the country's rising
inventory, we still managed to record higher exports supported by
demand from India, Europe and the United States," he told Bernama.

He said investors hoped that the healthy export numbers and near-stagnant production would help cut stockpiles in Malaysia.

On
Thursday, Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services announced that
Malaysia's palm oil product exports in the first 25 days of this month
rose by 5.2 per cent to 1.123 million tonnes from a
month ago.

Another
cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance said the data showed
palm oil shipments in the same period increased between 2.7 per cent
and 5.2 per cent, fuelled by stronger demand from India, Europe and the
US.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, May 2013 improved RM18 to
RM2,301 per tonne, June 2013 increased RM41 to RM2,335, July 2013
gained RM20 to RM2,316 and August 2013 rose RM1 to RM2,300.

Weekly
turnover decreased to 126,768 lots from 177,106 lots last week while
open interest rose to 178,250 contracts from 175,289 contracts last
Friday.

On the physical market, May South ended Friday RM20 lower at RM2,320 per tonne.-- Bernama