By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to trade with a downside bias next week amid the expectation of sluggish demand and higher production pace.

“Therefore, we expect the market to trade between RM3,750 and RM3,900 next week,” palm oil trader David Ng told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Sunvin Group commodity research head Anilkumar Bagani said next week the market’s focus will be on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s January supply and demand release where the market is expecting a reduction in Malaysian palm oil inventories on the back of a double-digit decline in production, while, export was also lower. 

For the week just ended, CPO futures were traded mostly higher on the expectation of another month of lower output, stronger soybean oil performance on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), and anticipation of a lower stock level in the country.

On a weekly basis, spot month February 2024 contract put on RM132 to RM3,920 a tonne, March 2024 and April 2024 rose RM120 each to RM3,914 a tonne and RM3,884 a tonne, respectively, May 2024 increased RM109 to RM3,830 a tonne, June 2024 went up RM91 to RM3,768 a tonne and July 2024 edged up RM78 to RM3,719 a tonne.

The total weekly volume improved to 310,938 lots from 297,272 lots in the previous week while open interest advanced to 218,313 contracts from 208,948 contracts previously. 

The physical CPO price for February South stood at RM3,970 per tonne, up RM110 from RM3,860 per tonne last week.

Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will be closed on February 12 (Monday) in conjunction with the Chinese New Year public holiday and will resume operations on February 13 (Tuesday).

-- BERNAMA