The palm oil market extended its upward momentum throughout April, with the front-month Malaysian futures climbing above the MRY 6,550 per tonne for the first time since early March as investors assess the impact of Indonesia’s RBD palm olein export halt. The world’s top producer announced such a move in further effort to stabilize domestic prices, and authorities will assess local supply regularly.
Keeping a lid on prices were signs of weak export demand from Malaysia, with palm oil shipments from April 1-25 falling 12.9% to 897,683 from the same period in March, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said. Palm oil hit a record high of MYR 7,200 in March, supported by tight supply due to the drought season in South America and supply bottlenecks for sunflower oil in the Black Sea region.
