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A trader said crude palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are expected to trade within a range of 3,800 to 3,900 ringgit a tonne next week.
Jim Teh, senior palm oil trader at Interband Group of Companies, explained that prices at these levels would likely attract physical buyers from India, China, Pakistan, the Middle East, the European Union and the United States, helping to draw down Malaysia's currently elevated physical stock levels.
He told Bernama: "So it is a win-win basis. If the price falls to 3,800-3,900 ringgit a tonne, we will see genuine physical buyers willing to buy at these prices."
By contrast, David Ng, a proprietary trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X Sdn Bhd, expects crude palm oil futures to trade with an upward bias, given recent strong exports and expectations of weaker production in the coming weeks.
"We expect prices to range between 4,080 and 4,200 ringgit a tonne next week," he said.
On a week-on-week basis, Friday to Friday, the February 2026 contract rose 71 ringgit to 4,128 ringgit a tonne, the March 2026 contract gained 92 ringgit to 4,164 ringgit a tonne, and the April 2026 contract added around 96 ringgit to reach 4,175 ringgit a tonne.
The May 2026 contract also firmed by 90 ringgit to 4,172 ringgit a tonne, the June 2026 contract climbed 84 ringgit to 4,161 ringgit a tonne, and the July 2026 contract settled at 4,149 ringgit a tonne.
Weekly trading volume fell to 333,697 lots, compared with 539,268 lots the previous week, while open interest dropped to 228,950 contracts from 249,340 previously.
The new physical price for crude palm oil for the January southern-region contract rose by 90 ringgit to 4,140 ringgit a tonne.
Source: Bernama