Malaysian palm oil ends lower

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd closed lower yesterday amid slowing global demand and expectations of rising stocks, dealers said.

The falling crude oil prices also further pressured the market, they added.

A dealer said the heavy rainfall and floods in Sabah and Sarawak failed to support the CPO price.

"Buyers discounted the possibility of a slowdown in output due to the heavy rainfall and flooding. The current bearish market globally has kept away buyers," the dealer said.

The dealer also said market players were awaiting fresh direction from the palm oil data set to be issued by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board next week.

For the CPO contract prices, December 2008 and January 2009 declined RM12 each to close at RM1,591 and RM1,603 per tonne respectively.

The benchmark month of February 2009 went down RM25 to RM1,603 per tonne while March 2009 decreased RM11 to RM1,606 per tonne.

Turnover dropped to 9,022 lots from Monday's 13,054 lots but open interests increased to 92,830 contracts from 91,506 previously.

On the physical market, December South was lower at RM1,600 per tonne compared to Monday RM1,635 per tonne.

The US dollar-denominated palm oil futures were untraded yesterday.

RUBBER

RUBBER prices closed lower yesterday amid weakening global demand and a fall in futures contract prices on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom), dealers said.

They said buyers remained reluctant to purchase despite low price levels and tightness in physical supply due to rains in Thailand, and the uncertainties on the global economic front.

"Trade was thin and there was no buyer at all," a dealer said.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 dropped 12.5 sen to 487 sen per kg while latex in bulk lost 6.5 sen to 369 sen.

The unofficial seller's closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 dipped 16.5 sen to 478.5 sen per kg and latex in bulk declined by 8.5 sen to 365.5 sen.

TIN

THE Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) price rose by US$300 yesterday (US$1 = RM3.63) to close at US$12,800 per tonne on demand from Japanese and local buyers, said dealers.

They said, however, the KLTM barely saw any selling as sellers stayed away due to low prices.

"The prices on the KLTM are not attractive for now," a dealer said.

Prices on the London Metal Exchange meanwhile fell US$25 to US$12,375 per tonne.

On the local front, bids totalled 52 tonnes and offers were at 26 tonnes.

Turnover went up to 26 tonnes from Monday's 24 tonnes.

The premium price differential between the KLTM and the LME widened to US$695 per tonne from US$370 per tonne previously. - Bernama