KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil futures eased on Tuesday as cargo surveyor data showing a tumble in Jan. 1-10 exports outweighed support from a sharp decline in inventories.
The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 22 ringgit, or 0.44%, to 5,007 ringgit in early trade.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The market is supported by tight supplies amid heavy rains and flooding in Peninsular Malaysia, with a miller’s association pegging production for the first five days of January lower by 45.75% month-on-month, but the upside is capped by weaker demand amid persistently high palm prices, Refinitiv Agriculture Research said in a note on Monday.
* Malaysia’s palm oil stocks at the end of December fell steeper than expected, down 12.9% from the month before, as production nosedived to its lowest in nine months, Malaysian Palm Oil Board data showed on Monday, further tightening inventories for 2022. [nL1N2TQ07C}
* Exports for Jan. 1-10 fell 41.6% to 334,750 tonnes from the same period in December, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday.
* Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 gained 0.3%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 rose 0.1%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 were up 0.4%, after declining 1.3% overnight.
* Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
* Palm oil may test a support at 4,927 ringgit per tonne, a break below which could open the way towards 4,806 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. TECH/C
MARKET NEWS
* Asian equities and the dollar struggled to find direction on Tuesday, with attention squarely on the timing and pace of U.S. monetary policy normalisation, but investors took some comfort from a late rebound in U.S. stock markets. MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENTS
No major data/events expected on Tuesday
(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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