VEGOILS-Palm edges up on stronger crude oil, profit taking
* Palm up 0.6 percent on-week
* Market seen falling in longer term - trader
(Updates with closing prices, quotes)
By Emily Chow
KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil
futures made gains on Friday evening, their first in three
sessions, tracking strength in crude oil prices and as the
market saw profit taking in evening trade.
The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery
on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.5 percent to
2,414 ringgit ($619.77) a tonne at the close of trade.
The market is also up 0.6 percent for the week, charting a
second week of gains in three.
Trading volumes stood at 41,199 lots of 25 tonnes each at on
Friday evening.
"The market is seeing some profit taking," said a Kuala
Lumpur-based trader, adding that gains in crude oil prices also
lent support to palm's prices. "Whenever crude reaches $70, it
will be supportive to palm."
Oil prices were set for a second consecutive week of gains
on Friday, buoyed by tightening supplies and continued support
from OPEC and its allies on supply cuts.
Palm oil's gains were weaker earlier in the day, but edged
up on the back of shipment data. Malaysia's palm oil exports
rose 2 percent between April 1-20 versus the corresponding
period last month, inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia on
Friday.
Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance however
reported a 1.8 percent decline for the same period.
On a longer term outlook, palm oil prices are expected to
decline, said a futures trader earlier in the day.
"Moving forward, the market should be going down as
production picks up on seasonal pattern, and on a softening of
exports due to the reintroduction of export duties," he said.
Malaysia extended a duty suspension implemented at the start
of 2018 until end-April in a move to encourage demand to reduce
inventory levels and support prices.
The duties will resume in May at a 5 percent export tax
rate.
Palm oil production in top growers Indonesia and Malaysia in
April is forecast to rise on-month in line with seasonal trend.
Malaysian March output had rose 17.2 percent month-on-month to
1.57 million tonnes, its highest March production since 2000,
according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
(MYPOMP-CPOTT)
In other related oils, the Chicago Board of Trade's July
soybean oil contract slightly rose 0.03 percent, while
September soybean oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange
was also up 0.03 percent.
The Dalian September palm oil contract edged down
0.04 percent.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in rival edible
oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils
market.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices as of 1120 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL MAY8 2410 +22.00 2385 2420 1771
MY PALM OIL JUN8 2416 +13.00 2394 2421 5325
MY PALM OIL JUL8 2416 +11.00 2393 2422 16810
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP8 5010 -2.00 4996 5040 277682
CHINA SOYOIL SEP8 5810 +2.00 5800 5846 382256
CBOT SOY OIL JUL8 31.69 +0.00 31.57 31.74 5656
INDIA PALM OIL APR8 645.00 +1.90 643.00 646.8 415
INDIA SOYOIL APR8 765.3 +0.55 764.2 766 1900
NYMEX CRUDE MAY8 68.12 -0.17 67.97 68.62 2174
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.8950 ringgit)
($1 = 66.0200 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.2915 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Sunil Nair)