By Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade with a downward bias next week due to the expectation of weak demand, palm oil trader David Ng said.
He said market sentiment will be influenced by seasonally higher output ahead of the key crop report.
“We expect the commodity to trade between RM4,150 and RM4,320 per tonne,” palm oil trader David Ng told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Interband Group of Companies senior palm oil trader Jim Teh sees the commodity’s price ranging between RM3,900 and RM4,000 per tonne next week.
He said the price range represents a good bargain for physical buyers from China, India, Pakistan, the Middle East and European Union countries.
He noted that CPO futures have continued to outperform crude oil, which has fallen to around US$66 to US$67 per barrel.
“Since 2007, palm oil has consistently demonstrated strong performance in the commodities market,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government is pushing for zero tariffs for commodities such as cocoa, rubber and palm oil exports to the United States (US) following the latest announcement of new tariff rates, according to Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz
The minister said if the US finds that it could not produce these products domestically, there is a good chance the products will be exempted from the 19 per cent tariff.
On a weekly basis, the August contract fell RM28 to RM4,193 per tonne, September 2025 dropped RM32 to RM4,226 per tonne, and October 2025 erased RM28 to RM4,245 per tonne.
The November 2025 contract decreased RM20 to RM4,263 per tonne, December 2025 eased RM11 to RM4,279 per tonne, and January 2026 inched up RM1 to RM4,291 per tonne.
The weekly trading volume shrank to 293,302 lots from 385,858 lots last week, while open interest slid to 224,913 contracts from 229,303 contracts.
The physical CPO price for August South remained unchanged at RM4,230 per tonne.
-- BERNAMA