Cpo Futures End Lower

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower on Friday as mixed sentiment over the weak export pace pressured prices, said palm oil trader David Ng.

“(However), the expectation of weaker output seems (to uplift sentiment) in the market,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, OCBC Global Markets Research said the resilience in CPO prices would likely remain in the coming weeks as inventory concerns persist, while demand might see some recovery following Lunar New Year celebrations in February and upcoming Ramadan festivities in March-April 2024.

At the close, new spot month March 2024 was RM17 lower at RM3,910 a tonne, April 2024 slipped RM18 to RM3,857 a tonne, and May 2024 decreased RM12 to RM3,809 a tonne. 

Moreover, June 2024 fell RM11 to RM3,745 a tonne, July 2024 depreciated RM8 to RM3,690 a tonne and August 2024 shed RM6 to RM3,643 a tonne. 

Total volume weakened to 60,927 lots from 66,210 lots on Thursday, while open interest narrowed to 227,927 contracts from 284,743 contracts previously. 

The physical CPO price for February South fell RM20 to RM3,980 per tonne. 

-- BERNAMA