Palm Oil Futures Surge to Near 3-Month Peak on Supply Worries

Malaysian palm oil futures jumped more than 4.5% to around MYR 3,950 per tonne, rising for the third straight session while approaching their highest level in three months, due to a rally in rival soyoil on concerns over smaller US planting and inventories. The US Department of Agriculture Friday reported much lower-than-expected 2023 soy plantings and June 1st stocks. Meantime, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva said there were no grounds to maintain the “status quo” of the Black Sea grain deal that is set to expire on July 18th, according to the Russian news outlet Izvestia said. On the supply side, exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June fell 6.9%, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported. Another cargo surveyor, AmSpec Agri Malaysia, said exports rose 0.6%. Meantime, Indonesia plans to raise its mandatory palm oil-based biodiesel blending to 40% in the next few years after increasing it from 30% to 35% in February.