(CPO traders should know these general data)
* Palm prices fall 5.9 pct, biggest drop since Feb. 2013
* Malaysia's March palm oil exports fall 3.1-3.4 pct -cargo
surveyors
* Palm oil to suffer 20 percent loss in 3 months -technicals
By Anuradha Raghu
Malaysian palm oil
futures fell to their lowest in a month and a half on Monday,
with prices recording their biggest monthly drop in over a year
as disappointing export data stoked worries about slowing global
demand for the vegetable oil.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS) reported that
Malaysia's palm oil exports in March fell 3.1 percent to 1.21
million tonnes from a month ago, hurt by weak demand from the
world's top edible oil buyers China and India.
Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance
showed that exports for the same period fell 3.4 percent to 1.20
million tonnes shipped.
A stronger Malaysian ringgit also made the
ringgit-denominated feedstock more expensive for overseas
investors and refiners, curbing buying interest. The ringgit
rose 0.2 percent to trade at 3.2660 against the U.S. dollar late
Monday.
"The weak exports are going to hold back the market," said a
trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "The strong ringgit
is also a damper."
The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia
Derivatives Exchange had edged down 0.7 percent to 2,636 ringgit
($808) per tonne by Monday's close. Prices earlier fell to 2,626
ringgit, their lowest since Feb. 12.
Total traded volume stood at 36,123 lots of 25 tonnes,
slightly higher than the average 35,000 lots.
Technicals for the next quarter were bearish. Malaysian palm
oil is expected to revisit its July 2013 low of 2,137 ringgit
per tonne over the next three months, as it has completed a
rebound from this level, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
More details: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/31/markets-vegoils-idUSL4N0MS1DD20140331