Palm Oil Stabilizes But Faces Steep Drop Weekly

Malaysian palm oil futures traded around MYR 3,985 per tonne, trying to halt losses from the prior five sessions amid strength in rival edible oils on the Dalian and the Chicago Board, and a weaker ringgit.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices jumped as tensions in the Middle East heightened.

Some traders tried to do some bargain hunting after prices hit their lowest in over 6 weeks in recent days.

On cargo surveyors' data, shipments of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-15 rose around 9.2% to 28.5% from the same period in March, according to Intertek Testing Services and Amspec Agri.

However, the contracts are poised to a tumble of near 7% for the week, which would be the second straight decline, pressured by forecasts of a further rise in output during Q2 of 2024 because of better weather conditions and increased productivity after Ramadan ended.

Meanwhile, monthly data from the industry regulator indicated palm oil production climbed 10.57% to 1.39 million tons at the end of March.