CPO Futures Likely To Trade With Downside Bias Next Week

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald & Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- Crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade with a slight downside bias next week due to the ringgit's strength, said a dealer.

Palm oil trader David Ng said market sentiment was also influenced by concern over rising output in the coming weeks.

"Next week, we see prices likely to trade between RM3,800 a tonne and RM3,950 a tonne," he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh said CPO will be trading between RM3,700 and RM3,800 a tonne.

"Stock-wise, the Malaysia Palm Oil Board will release the export statistics and stock position for July on Aug 12.

"Physical demand will come from China, India, Pakistan, Middle East countries and some European countries," he said.

For the week that just ended, the market traded mostly lower due to weaker soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, concern over rising output in the coming weeks and a stronger ringgit, which continued to weigh on palm oil prices.

On a weekly basis, the August 2024 contract ended on Friday RM23 lower at RM4,021 tonne, while  September declined RM3 to RM3,972 a tonne, October 2024 shed RM25 to RM3,917 a tonne, November 2024 decreased by RM46 to RM3,881 a tonne, December 2024 slipped RM66 to RM3,859 a tonne, and January 2025 fell RM85 to RM3,848 a tonne.

The total weekly volume increased to 435,999 lots from 286,779 in the previous week, while open interest rose to 218,654 contracts from 218,561 a week ago.

The physical CPO price for August South fell by RM10 to RM4,050 a tonne on Friday from RM4,060 a week earlier.

-- BERNAMA