CPO FUTURES LIKELY TO RETAIN DOWNWARD BIAS NEXT WEEK

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures market is expected to remain under pressure next week, largely due to ongoing concerns over rising domestic stock levels amid tepid demand and improving production.

Palm oil trader David Ng said local CPO inventories are likely to increase as the country enters the peak harvesting season, which typically brings a seasonal uptrend in output.

"At the same time, export demand has shown little sign of picking up meaningfully, especially from key buyers such as India and China, as they are reportedly taking a cautious approach due to high global vegetable oil supplies and price competition from other oils such as soybean and sunflower.

"This combination of factors is likely to put further pressure on prices," he told Bernama.

He added that traders are adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of upcoming export and production data.

"Unless there is a significant shift in demand or a surprise policy move from major importing countries, sentiment is expected to remain bearish in the near term.

"I project CPO prices to trade within a softer range of RM3,750-RM3,900 per tonne next week," he added.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the spot month May 2025 slid by RM219 to RM3,920 per tonne, June 2025 fell RM150 to RM3,907, and July 2025 slipped by RM176 to RM3,881.

August 2025 declined RM164 to RM3,883 per tonne, September 2025 contracted by RM151 to RM3,888, and October 2025 was RM138 lower at RM3,891.

Weekly trading volume shrank to 240,534 lots from 410,686 the previous week, while open interest declined to 232,901 contracts from 239,139.

The physical CPO price for May South decreased by RM180 to RM4,020 per tonne.

-- BERNAMA