KUALA LUMPUR: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures market is expected to see profit-taking next week following a bullish rally, driven by aggressive buying from hedge funds, said Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh. Teh noted that hedge funds have invested around US$20 billion (RM87.5 billion) in agricultural products, including in CPO futures, over the past seven weeks.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Teh predicted that the market will likely experience profit-taking, with trading expected within the range of RM4,200 to RM4,300. He referred to this trend as this month’s ‘palm oil boom’. Meanwhile, palm oil trader David Ng shared Teh’s outlook, suggesting that market prices are set to trend higher next week, largely influenced by crude and soybean oil prices.
Ng anticipates prices to trade between RM4,700 and RM4,950 per tonne next week. On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the spot month November 2024 contract saw an increase of RM344 to RM4,976 per tonne. The December 2024 contract gained RM
330 to RM4,914 per tonne, and the January 2025 contract improved by RM332 to RM4,868 per tonne.
Additionally, the February 2025 contract rose RM327 to RM4,808 per tonne, March 2025 climbed RM303 to RM4,726 per tonne, and the April 2025 contract increased RM280 to RM4,637 per tonne. Total weekly volume decreased to 316,573 lots from 428,573 lots in the previous week, while open interest declined to 246,507 contracts from 252,233 contracts.
The physical CPO price for October South increased by RM300 to RM4,980 on Friday, compared to RM4,680 a week earlier.