Soy Oil Futures Commentary(Source: CME)
Soyoil futures stumbled, with the nearby July contract backpedaling to an eight-month low. Ample supplies and sluggish demand are bearish features weighing on prices and allowing soyoil to lose product share value on spreads. July soyoil settled 0.31 cent, or 0.8%, lower at 36.47 cents per pound.
Brazil Trade Group Boosts 2009-10 Soy Crop To 68.4M Tons(Source: CME)
The Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association, or Abiove, on Monday raised its forecast for the recently harvested 2009-10 soy crop to 68.4 million metric tons from 67.9 million tons that it forecast April 28.
The 2008-09 crop produced 57.3 million tons.
Abiove also raised its data for exports, to 29.2 million tons versus 29 million tons in its prior estimate in April and 28 million tons a year ago.
Abiove said the year's soy crush was up at 33.1 million tons compared to 32.9 million tons in April and 30.7 million tons last year. Companies crush soybeans to make soymeal and soybean oil.
Abiove members include the world's largest soy-exporting companies, such as Bunge Ltd. (BG) and Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM). Brazil is the world's No. 2 soy producer after the U.S.
Malaysia Palm Oil Stocks To Rise As Buyers Favor Soyoil(Source: CME)
Malaysia's palm oil inventory levels are likely to rise in the second half of the year as output in the second-largest palm oil producer in the world increases and major importers opt for soyoil due to a narrow spread to palm, affecting export growth, according to industry analyst James Fry.
"There is no reason to doubt (the rise in stocks) especially since the Ramadan boost to exports ends relatively soon and China and India are favoring soyoil right now," Fry, who is also chairman at London-based agribusiness consultancy firm LMC International Ltd., told Dow Jones Newswires via email over the weekend.
He also said CPO production in Malaysia is likely to rise from the 2009 output level of 17.6 million metric tons as replanting activities in Malaysia remain slow while underlying growth in mature areas in the country may boost supplies.
Palm prices have declined 8.8% since the beginning of the year as palm's wide discount to soyoil disappeared, steering buyers to cheaper soyoil.
CPO prices may remain under downward pressure even as soyoil prices remain low as a record soybean harvest from South America boosts availability.
"Also, the El Nino problems mentioned earlier this year seem to have been overstated," Fry said.
Earlier this year, industry analysts and growers said Malaysia may fall short of the 2010 output target of 18.1 million tons due to the El Nino weather condition, which reduces rain, affects soil moisture and saps yields.
Pakistan CPO Imports May Rise Due To Import Duty Cut -Executive(Source: CME)
Pakistan, the third-largest buyer of palm oil after India and China, may step up purchases of crude palm oil after the government reduced the import duty on the commodity in a new federal budget, a senior executive said Monday.
"Much of the rise in CPO imports will likely come from Indonesia," a Pakistan-based trading executive at Jaleel Brothers Ltd. said by phone. "Should Pakistan complete the free trade agreement with Indonesia, CPO purchases from Indonesia will be higher."
Pakistan reduced the import duty on CPO to PKR8,000 ($94) a metric ton from PKR9,000 in the budget released Saturday.
The country sources around 95% of its palm oil from Malaysia and the remainder from Indonesia.
In the last few years, Pakistan has bought more CPO from Indonesia due to a quota Malaysia imposes on CPO exports to encourage sales of higher-value refined palm products.
Pakistan relies heavily on imports to supply its edible oil consumption of 3 million tons a year, as it produces only 800,000 tons of oil a year from sunflowers, rapeseeds and cottonseeds.
Economic concerns drag palm oil to one-week lows
KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures dropped to one-week lows as renewed economic concerns hit financial markets and the U.S. dollar gained.
"The market is looking to see how far the Malaysian benchmark can go. We expect it to go as low as 2,400 ringgit because crude oil has been losing ground," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.
India May oilmeal exports fall 7th straight month
NEW DELHI, June 7 (Reuters) - India's May oilmeal exports slumped 3 percent from a year earlier, falling for the seventh straight month, on low domestic crushing and reduced demand from Vietnam and Japan, a trade body said.
India's oilmeal exports declined to 173,604 tonnes in May from 178,350 tonnes a year earlier due to poor demand mainly from southeast Asian countries, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said in a statement on Monday.
Pakistan cuts duty on palm oil import in new budget
ISLAMABAD, June 6 (Reuters) - Pakistan reduced duties on crude palm oil imports by more than 11 percent, to 8,000 rupees ($94) per tonne, as part of the 2010/11 budget, custom officials said on Sunday.
"The duty cut will come into effect from today," Munir Qureshi, a top custom official at the Federal Board of Revenue, told Reuters.
