Crude palm oil futures up 0.2% to Rs 742.9/10 kg

Crude palm oil futures jumped to Rs 742.9 per 10 kg on August 13 as participants increased their long positions. Malaysian palm oil futures for October settled with a gain of 1.7 percent on August 12 on Bursa Malaysia.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) reported higher-than-expected inventories and weak exports in first 10 days of August, which pulled down palm oil by more than 150 points in the first three sessions of the week.

However, supporting palm oil prices at lower levels is the recovery in soy oil and considerable demand for edible oil in China.

In the futures market, crude palm oil (CPO) for August delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 751 and a low of Rs 741 per 10 kg on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, CPO has touched a low of Rs 553 and a high of Rs 758.80.

CPO for August delivery gained Rs 1.5, or 0.2 percent, to Rs 742.9 per 10 kg at 16:13 hours IST on a business turnover of 3,810 lots.

The same for September delivery slipped Rs 0.3, or 0.04 percent, to Rs 733 per 10 kg on a business volume of 3,289 lots.

The value of August and September contracts traded so far is Rs 133.69 crore and Rs 38.72 crore, respectively.

Increased domestic palm oil discount against its import cost is likely to keep MCX CPO rangebound with a positive bias in the next couple of sessions, Kotak Securities said.

As of August 11, MCX CPO August was trading at a discount of Rs 24 from its import cost at Kandla port.