KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives extended its loss to close lower on Thursday as a delay in the implementation of Indonesia’s B40 biodiesel programme caused market uncertainty, a dealer said.
Indonesia’s biofuel programme is a nationwide initiative that requires a higher blend of palm oil-based fuel in biodiesel that was planned to start on Jan 1.
Palm oil dealer David Ng said the slower progress of Indonesia's biofuel programme could dampen demand for CPO, ultimately weighing on the commodity’s prices. “The sluggish export pace seen so far, mainly due to seasonal weakness, also weighs on market sentiment. We see support at RM4,300 and resistance at RM4,480,” he told Bernama.
At the close, the January 2025 contract dropped RM171 to RM4,690 per tonne, February 2025 lost RM133 to RM4,484 and March 2025 fell RM115 to RM4,333.
The April 2025 note was down RM93 to RM4,212 per tonne, May 2025 slipped RM73 to RM4,132 and June 2025 shed RM55 to RM4,085 per tonne.
Trading volume rose to 74,951 lots from 72,477 lots on Tuesday, while open interest eased to 234,076 contracts from 239,495 contracts yesterday.
The physical CPO price for January South fell RM150 to RM4,800 per tonne.
-- BERNAMA
