Commodities Roundup: CPO futures mixed

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed mixed yesterday on technical correction after suffering big losses last week, dealers said.

They said the benchmark Sept ’08 contract added RM7 to end at RM3,558 per tonne yesterday although strong external factors saw the crude oil price at over US$137 per barrel mark.

“The market was oversold last week. Today was just a technical correction as the market volume was thin at 4,885 contracts,” a dealer said.

Another dealer said the market was expected to see range-bound trading tomorrow with prices moving between RM3,520 and RM3,600 per tonne.

For the other spot months, July and August ’08 contracts dropped RM2 each to settle at RM3,536 and RM3,543 per tonne respectively while Oct ’08 rose RM10 to settle at RM3,568 per tonne.

Turnover fell to 4,885 contracts from 9,262 contracts last Friday, while open interests were at 44,121 lots, higher from 43,939 lots previously.

As for the physical market, July South increased to RM3,580 per tonne from Friday’s RM3,570 per tonne.

RUBBER

MALAYSIAN rubber prices ended slightly lower yesterday in a quiet manner without much demand from the market, dealers said.

They said the market was easier yesterday as most buyers adopted a wait-and-see approach, waiting for the current prices to drop.

There were no overseas enquiries received today, they added.

However, the strong performance on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) helped local rubber from dropping further, one of the dealers said, adding that TOCOM normally influenced direction for local rubber.

According to him, local rubber prices are expected to be slightly higher today due to the tight supply conditions in the market.

At noon yesterday, the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) official physical price for tyre grade SMR 20 went down two sen to 1020 sen per kg compared with last Friday’s closing of 1,022 sen per kg while latex in bulk dropped half a sen to 709.5 sen per kg.

The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre grade SMR 20 added 5.5 sen to 1,023.5 sen per kg from 1,018 sen per kg last Friday and latex in bulk advanced 2.5 sen to 710.5 sen per kg from 708 sen per kg previously.

TIN

THE Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) closed sharply higher yesterday, boosted by positive momentum from the London Metal Exchange (LME) as well as good demand for the commodity, dealers said.

The price rose US$400 to end at US$22,850 per tonne while the LME, which influenced global prices, saw the metal tin price also jumped by US$400 to settle at US$22,800 per tonne.

Turnover on the KLTM dropped to 55 tonne from 65 tonnes last Friday.

At the opening, buyers made bids for 114 tonnes while sellers offered only 34 tonnes.

Meanwhile, the price differential between the KLTM and the LME widened to premium of US$425 per tonne compared with US$392 per tonne previously. — Bernama