CPO Futures End Higher, Seeking Support At RM5,000 Per Tonne

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher today, with the futures trying to find support at the RM5,000 a tonne level.

Fastmarket Palm Oil Analytics senior analyst Sathia Varqa said ​the lower CPO output coming out of Malaysia in November was due to excessive rains disrupting harvesting and collection of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and consequently lower CPO sustained the buying momentum on the CPO futures.

“Palm supply and exports are widely expected to be lower in November compared to October levels with end-month stock position mainly dependent on how imports and domestic consumption turn out,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani said the weaker ringgit has supported CPO futures to higher prices.

“Palm oil is seen to have mostly priced in the bullish news of Indonesian levies and export tax hike and the Indonesian government sticking with the original plans of starting B40 biodiesel mandate from Jan 1, 2025.

“Indonesia has raised its palm oil reference price for Dec 1-31, 2024 to US$1,071.67 per tonne, up from US$961.97 per tonne for Nov 1-30, 2024.

“The export tax moved to two brackets higher while the export levy percentage remains the same, but outright levies increased due to a hike in the reference price. Our own estimate was at US$1,073.56 per tonne,” he added.

At the close, the spot month December 2024 contract increased RM126 to RM5,343 per tonne, January 2025 rose by RM133 to RM5,212, February 2025 added RM120 to RM5,075, March 2025 went up RM104 to RM4,927 per tonne, April 2025 advanced RM81 to RM4,770 and May 2025 improved RM61 to RM4,622.

Trading volume improved to 80,392 lots from 65,864 lots yesterday while open interest jumped to 231,466 contracts from 229,527.

The physical CPO price for December South was RM100 higher at RM5,380 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA