Russia-Ukraine conflict: Palm oil surges past 7,000 ringgit to record high on Black Sea supply woes

Malaysian palm oil futures jumped past 7,000 ringgit to hit a record high on Wednesday, extending a breathless rally that has been driven by disruptions of vegetable oil supply from the Black Sea region following Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange jumped 310 ringgit, or 4.55%, to 7,070 ringgit ($1,687.35) a tonne in early trade. It had gained 3.8% overnight.

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The front-month contract surged 7.3% to a record 8,759 ringgit.

FUNDAMENTALS

1-  Palm oil has become the costliest among the four major edible oils for the first time as buyers rush to secure replacements for sunflower oil shipments from the top exporting Black Sea region that were disrupted by Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.

2- Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for February rose 8.9% to 1,242,287 tonnes from January, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Tuesday.

3 - Dalian`s most-active soyoil contract rose 4.9%, while its palm oil contract gained 5.9%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.04%, after setting an all-time high overnight.

4 - Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

5 - Palm oil may gain more into a range of 7,182-7,300 ringgit per tonne, as it has pierced above a key resistance at 6,990 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. 

6 - Asian stocks came under renewed pressure and oil prices jumped after rising worries about the impact of aggressive sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine sank shares in Europe and on Wall Street.

7 - Oil prices rose as sanctions on Russian banks following Moscow`s invasion of Ukraine hampered trade finance for crude shipments and some traders opted to avoid Russian supplies in an already tight market.