Palm ends higher on strong exports, though soyoil spread weighs

Malaysian palm oil futures inched higher on Wednesday, supported by stronger exports and firmer soyoil, but palm oil losing its competitive advantage over soyoil capped the gains. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPO1! for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 37 ringgit, or 0.85%, at 4,380 ringgit ($1,041.62) a metric ton at the close. The contract fell 2.25% on Tuesday. Crude palm oil futures traded marginally higher on strong export performance and higher Chicago soybean oil prices at midday, said David Ng, a proprietary trader at Kuala Lumpur-based trading firm Iceberg X Sdn Bhd. “The narrowing spread between palm oil and soybean oil is also weighing on palm oil price gains.” Cargo surveyors estimated exports of Malaysian palm oil products for September 1-20 to have risen between 8.3% and 8.7% month-on-month. Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract (DBYcv1) fell 0.44%, while its palm oil contract CPO1! added 0.44%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board ...