Palm Oil Rises for 4th Session

Malaysian palm oil futures rose over 1% to around MYR 4,450 per tonne, advancing for the fourth session and holding at their highest since early April. Gains were supported by higher edible oil prices on the Dalian exchange and strong exports, with cargo surveyors noting shipments in the first ten days of August jumped over 23%. In top producer Indonesia, Jakarta reaffirmed plans to raise the mandatory palm oil content in biodiesel to 50% next year from 40%, though implementation is unlikely in January. In India, refiners are expected to lift soyoil imports by 60% to a record in 2024/25 on price advantages over palm oil, pushing the latter’s shipments to a five-year low of 7.8 million tons. Still, near-term palm oil demand may rise as buyers stock up ahead of the mid-October Diwali festival. Upside was capped by a stronger ringgit and expectations of higher Malaysian output, with July production up 7.1% to 1.81 million tons and inventories at a near two-year high of 2.11 million tons.