Business Times Palm futures climb ahead of Hari Raya

CPO FUTURES

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher yesterday on active trade ahead of the upcoming Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

A dealer said demand for palm oil especially from Muslim countries had gone up in the last few weeks as they accumulated stocks in preparation for the festival due next week.

At close, the September 2010 contract increased RM32 to close at RM2,720 per tonne, October 2010 rose RM11 to RM2,615 per tonne, November 2010 went up RM28 to RM2,570 per tonne and December added RM37 to RM2,562 per tonne.

Turnover, however dropped to 11,614 lots from 12,062 lots last Friday while open interest declined to 66,192 contracts from 68,853 contracts previously.

On the physical market, September South added RM20 to be at RM2,740 per tonne. The market will be closed today for the Merdeka celebration.

The dealer said a cautious trading is expected when the market reopens tomorrow as investors await the August palm oil exports data from cargo surveyors, Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance, later this week.


RUBBER

THE Malaysian rubber market ended higher yesterday on expectations that Chinese will continue to beef up its purchase to meet demand for tyre production, a dealer said.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries said China's gross imports this year may rise five per cent to 1.67 million tonnes.

"China is expected to import 135,000 tonnes of natural rubber in August and a further 130,000 tonnes in September," the association said in its newsletter this month.

The dealer also said rising oil prices helped improve the natural rubber's competitiveness against rival synthetic materials made from petroleum.

At noon, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 was 10.5 sen higher at 1,013.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk added 2.5 sen to 704.5 sen per kg.

The unofficial sellers' closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 increased 11.5 sen to 1,019.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk rose 1.5 sen to 705.5 sen per kg.



TIN

THE tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) hit a two-year high yesterday, rising by US$300 to close at US$21,500 per tonne, dealers said.

They said the market tracked closely the price of the commodity on the London Metal Exchange (LME), which saw it rising by US$275 to US$21,650 per tonne.

A dealer said the market also saw significant demand from European traders.

At the opening bell, bids amounted to only 120 tonnes with offers of 20 tonnes, in a market dominated by the Japanese, European and local traders.

Turnover, however, was unchanged from last Friday's 60 tonnes, while the premium between the KLTM and LME widened to US$230 per tonne from US$205 previously. -- Bernama LINK