CPO futures mart seen trending lower

Crude palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to trade between RM3,300 and RM3,400 per tonne.

A dealer said Friday's lower price might attract buyers to participate in the market.

However, Interband Group of Companies Senior Palm Oil Trader Jim Teh expects the local market to trend lower next week with the price of CPO hovering between RM3,000 and RM3,050 per tonne.

"We expect demand to be slower next month due to weak China trade data and concerns over the global economic outlook," he told Bernama.

He said buyers, mainly from China, India and Pakistan, would likely come in due to CPO's lower price.

"We hope physical buyers will participate in the market to clear out the inventory which currently stands at two million tonnes," he said.

Teh said the CPO price might start to rise in September due to the dry season.

"External sentiment, including developments in the eurozone, will continue to have an impact on the local CPO market," he added.

This week, the CPO futures traded lower with prices moving between RM3,275 per tonne and RM3,360 per tonne.

May 2012 fell RM80 to RM3,285 per tonne, June 2012 and July 2012 dropped RM83 each to RM3,283 and RM3,275 respectively, while August 2012 was down by RM73 to RM3,265 per tonne.

The weekly turnover rose to 136,742 lots from 113,751 lots while open interest was lower at 123,742 contracts compared to 128,166 contracts previously.

On the physical market, May South lost RM90 to 3,310 per tonne. -- BERNAMA