Commodities Roundup: Palm fall
Business Times
Wednesday - August 13, 2008
CPO FUTURES
Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower for the second consecutive day yesterday tracking the weaknesses in the global crude oil market, a dealer said.
Crude oil price eased to US$113 per barrel today amid a stronger US dollar.
While the prices of CPO have come down, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has said that the RM2,500-RM2,800 per tonne range was a sustainable level for local CPO prices.
The board said if the prices were too high, the downstream industries would be affected.
“The important thing is not to see the sudden drop in the price. What is important is the sustainable price to ensure that we can continue to develop the industry,” MPOB chairman, Datuk Sabri Ahmad, said.
At close yesterday, spot month August, September and October 2008 dropped RM110 each to settle at RM2,566, RM2,564 and RM2,561 respectively.
Meanwhile, November 2008 closed lower by RM105 to settle at RM2,565.
Yesterday’s turnover rose to 15,424 lots from Monday’s 13,403 lots, while open interest increased to 53,630 contracts from 52,287 contracts.
On the physical market, August South declined to RM2,600 from Monday’s RM2,720 per tonne.
