KUALA LUMPUR: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to experience a technical correction next week, ahead of the production data release.

Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics owner and co-founder Dr Sathia Varqa said markets will closely monitor the production data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) and Southern Peninsula Palm Oil Millers’ Association (SPPOMA) for the Sept 1-20 period.

“Next week’s trading activities will be based on production assessment data by MPOA and SPPOMA with expectation for production to rise at a slower rate from last month,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, palm oil trader David Ng forecast CPO futures to trade in range-bound mode as ongoing supply concern in the near term will support the price.

“We expect prices to stay above RM4,200 per tonne and we see resistance at RM4,450 per tonne,” he said.

On Wednesday, Cargo surveyor AmSpec Malaysia reported that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept 1 to 15, 2021, surged 53.9 per cent to 832,355 tonnes from 540,853 tonnes shipped during the same period last month.

In the meantime, it was reported that India imported 277,907 tonnes of palm oil, including 205,320 tonnes of CPO, and 8,500 tonnes of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) from Malaysia in August, according to the latest data released by the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA).

For the holiday-shortened week just ended, Malaysian CPO futures was traded mostly higher, taking the cue from solid exports data as well as strong demand.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, October 2021 increased RM105 to RM4,518 a tonne, November 2021 gained RM92 to RM4,370 a tonne, and December 2021 was RM77 higher at RM4,261 a tonne.

Meanwhile, January 2022 inched up RM55 to RM4,164 a tonne and February 2022 rose RM43 to RM4,074 a tonne.

Weekly volume eased to 229,593 lots from 286,662 lots in the previous trading week, while open interest improved to 272,628 contracts versus 254,743 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for September South remained unchanged at RM4,600 a tonne. – Bernama