Palm oil declines as drop in crude price reduces biofuel appeal

Palm oil declines as drop in crude price reduces biofuel appeal
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Bloomberg
Monday, 05 August 2013 13:12

(Aug. 5): Palm oil fell, retreating after the biggest weekly advance in six months, as a decline in crude oil prices reduced the appeal of vegetable oils as biofuels.

The contract for delivery in October lost as much as 0.8 percent to 2,241 ringgit ($690) a metric ton on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives and was at 2,244 ringgit at 11:59 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur. Futures rose 3.4 percent last week, the most since the five days to Feb. 1, rebounding from the lowest price since October 2009, reached on July 26.

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped as much as 0.9 percent today after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data fanned concern that the recovery may falter in the world’s largest oil consumer. A record 5.6 million tons of palm was used for fuel in 2012, according to Oil World, a Hamburg-based research company.

“Lower crude oil prices will affect demand for the biofuel segment,” said Alan Lim Seong Chun, an analyst at Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd. “The downside may not be significant as the market is still waiting for the next palm oil inventory data from MPOB, which we believe will be flat month-on-month. We expect total supply to be the same as total demand.”

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is scheduled to release data for July on Aug. 14. Stockpiles were at 1.65 million tons in June, according to board data, the lowest since March 2011. Indonesian markets are closed the whole of this week, while Malaysia will be shut on Aug. 8 and 9 for the Eid holidays.

Soybean oil for delivery in December fell 0.2 percent to 42.73 cents a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybeans for November gained 0.2 percent to $11.84 a bushel.

Refined palm oil for January delivery declined 1.2 percent to 5,442 yuan ($888) a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. Soybean oil fell 0.6 percent to 6,994 yuan.