CPO futures end lower but rubber, tin higher

 

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower on profit-taking yesterday as market players adopted a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the release of key export data, dealers said.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance are due to release the Nov 1-20 palm oil export data today.

"Overall, most traders stayed away from the market today on expectation of bullish export data to be released tomorrow," said one of the dealers.

According to the dealers, another factor is that the current rainy season in major producing countries is expected to reduce the level of CPO supply.

At close, the December 2009 contract went down by RM33 to settle at RM2,337 per tonne and January 2010 also declined RM33 to RM2,353 per tonne.

The February 2010 contract dropped RM29 to RM2,371 per tonne and March 2010 fell RM24 to RM2,376 per tonne.

The day's turnover was higher at 18,805 lots compared to 18,323 lots the previous day and open interest rose to 96,634 contracts from 94,536 contracts earlier.

On the physical market, November South increased to RM2,310 per tonne from RM2,300 per tonne previously.


RUBBER

MALAYSIAN rubber prices ended higher on a bullish note yesterday, backed by concern over limited supplies in major producing countries due to continuing rainy weather, dealers said.

The poor weather conditions in producing countries like Malaysia and Thailand had raised concern that current output may not be able to meet the strong demand, they said, adding that physical prices may increase further.

"The tight supply situation in the international market continued to push the price higher from other commodities, especially crude oil, and also encouraged investors to take up positions for rubber," said one of the dealers.

The uptrend in rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) also pushed up the commodity's price, he said.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 gained four sen to 837.50 sen per kg while latex in bulk rose three sen to 524 sen per kg.

The unofficial sellers' closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 added 7.5 sen to 842.00 sen per kg and latex in bulk was 3.5 sen higher at 525.50 sen per kg.


TIN

THE tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed higher by US$120 to settle at US$14,980 per tonne, boosted by the strong overnight performance of the metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

The LME tin price rose US$245 to close at US$15,195 per tonne.

At the opening level in the local mart, buyers offered 145 tonnes while sellers sought 51 tonnes, said a dealer.

The buyers were Europeans, Japanese and locals, he added.

Turnover was lower at 90 tonnes compared to 96 tonnes the previous day.

The price differential between the KLTM and the LME narrowed to US$70 per tonne from US$195 per tonne the previous day. - BERNAMA