Palm futures dip on weak buying interest - Business Times

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower yesterday on weak buying interest, dealers said.

"Buyers are taking a cautious approach," a dealer said, adding that the increase in March production weighed in on prices.

At the close, April 2011 fell RM24 to RM3,311 per tonne, May 2011 declined RM30 to RM3,271 per tonne, June 2011 dropped RM30 to RM3,252 per tonne and July 2011 lost RM31 to RM3,241 per tonne.

Turnover improved to 25,926 lots from the 19,805 recorded on Monday, while open interests fell to 89,598 contracts from 90,458 previously.

OIL

LONDON: World oil prices fell for a third day running yesterday as international powers gathered in London to map out the future of Libya, a key exporter of crude before the current conflict.

In London afternoon trade, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May shed 71 cents to US$114.09 (US$1.00 = RM3.02) a barrel.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for May, lost 84 cents to US$103.14.

“In Libya, rebels have regained control of key oil ports and advanced against government forces, easing some concerns about the political unrest across the Middle East and North Africa,” Sucden brokers analyst Myrto Sokou said.

Libya was producing 1.69 million barrels a day before the unrest, according to the International Energy Agency. It is now producing 400,000 barrels.

RUBBER

RUBBER prices on the Malaysian rubber market ended lower yesterday on weak demand, dealers said.

They said the market failed to take cue from the uptrend on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (Tocom).

“Demand was weak despite the \tight supply in producer countries,” a dealer said.

The Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 dropped 25 sen to 1,493.0 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk went down 6.5 sen to 1040.0 sen per kg.

The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 meanwhile declined 14 sen to 1,493.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk was flat at 1,042.0 sen per kg.

TIN

TIN price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) fell US$300 to close at US$31,600 per tonne as buyers remained sidelined, dealers said.

The trend was in line with the London Metal Exchange which dipped US$300 to US$31,550 per tonne.

On the local front, sellers offered 101 tonnes but there were no buyers who abstained in anticipation of prices declining further.

Turnover declined to 41 tonnes, compared with 65 tonnes, recorded on Monday with European and local players accounting for yesterday's turnover.

Japanese buyers were notable absent yesterday. The price differential between the KLTM and LME was at a higher premium of US$515 per tonne against US$479 per tonne previously.