Palm oil drops as Malaysian stockpiles advance most in 14 months

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Bloomberg
Tuesday, 10 December 2013 19:41
A + A - Reset
10 Dec 2013 18:24
(Dec. 10): Palm oil dropped to a one-week low after reserves in Malaysia
increased the most in 14 months in November as exports fell from the secondlargest
supplier.
The February contract fell 0.3 percent to 2,638 ringgit ($822) a metric ton on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, the lowest close for most-active futures since
Dec. 3. Prices rose 8.2 percent this year, set for the first annual gain since
2010.
Inventories climbed 7.2 percent to 1.98 million tons from a month earlier, the
biggest gain since September 2012, while exports lost 8.7 percent to 1.52
million tons, the biggest drop since February, MPOB data showed. The median
of estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 1.96 million tons for reserves and 1.57
million tons for exports. Production fell 5.6 percent to 1.86 million tons, the first drop since February and compared with 1.92 million ton
predicted in the survey.
“Inventories may be higher than expected, but the market has already priced this in and is looking ahead to lower inventories from
December onwards,” said Alan Lim Seong Chun, an analyst at Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd., who forecasts stockpiles will drop to 1.92
million tons this month.
Shipments from Malaysia fell 20 percent to 378,579 tons in the first 10 days of December from the same period a month earlier, cargo
surveyor Intertek said today.
Soybean oil for January delivery climbed 0.5 percent to 40.40 cents a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybeans were little
changed at $13.43 a bushel.
Refined palm oil for May delivery closed little changed at 6,242 yuan ($1,028) a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. Soybean oil
ended 0.1 percent higher at 7,228 yuan.