CPO Futures Extend Gains On Strong Global Vegetable Oil Prices, Firm Exports

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (Bernama) -- Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives (BMD) extended gains on Wednesday, lifted by strength in global vegetable oil markets and upbeat export sentiment, said Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani.

He said China’s decision to impose a preliminary anti-dumping duty of 75.8 per cent on canola imports from Canada, effective Aug 14, had spurred a rally in China’s Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) rapeseed oil futures. This, in turn, was closely tracked by soybean oil and palm oil futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE).

“The overall strength in external soybean oil markets in North and South America, coupled with resurgent demand from India and China, has also provided further support to BMD CPO futures,” he told Bernama.

Anilkumar noted that Malaysian palm oil exports during the Aug 1-10 period were up by more than 20 per cent, while palm oil production for the same period fell, according to data from the South Peninsular Palm Oil Millers Association (SPPOMA).

He also said the recent Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) statistics, along with a bullish World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, had created a launchpad for the rally in vegetable oil prices.

The August WASDE report maintained its forecast for world 2025/26 palm oil production, with Malaysia projected at 19.5 million tonnes and exports at 16.1 million tonnes.

“However, a stronger ringgit against the US dollar has capped some of the gains in ringgit-denominated CPO futures,” Anilkumar said.

Meanwhile, palm oil trader David Ng said the local CPO market also tracked firmer soybean oil prices following reports that Donald Trump had urged China to “quadruple” its soybean orders.

He said better export sentiment in the coming weeks is also lending support to CPO prices.

“We see support at RM4,350 per tonne and resistance at RM4,480 per tonne,” Ng added.

At the close, the spot-month August 2025 and September 2025 contracts advanced RM24 each to RM4,367 per tonne and RM4,387 per tonne, respectively, while October 2025 increased RM33 to RM4,435 per tonne.

The November 2025 contract rose RM40 to RM4,470 per tonne, December 2025 added RM47 to RM4,489 per tonne, and January 2026 gained RM41 to RM4,486 per tonne.

Trading volume eased to 97,321 lots from 120,621 lots on Tuesday, while open interest expanded to 236,360 contracts from 232,784 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for August South gained RM10 to RM4,390 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA