Rekan OB-er.. mudah2-an Jumat sector Agri naik semua : AALI, TBLA, UNSP. Thanks.... Palm Oil in Malaysia Rises on Widening Spread to Soybean Oil By Claire Leow Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Palm oil in Malaysia, the global benchmark, gained after a decline of 3.7 percent in the past three days made it attractive relative to its rival, soybean oil. The discount of palm oil to soybean oil widened to 7.16 cents a pound yesterday, the most since Nov. 17, 2006, when the discount was 7.29 cents. China, the world's largest consumer of vegetable oils, imports twice as much palm oil as soybean oil. ``China and India are the key factors in the high palm oil price,'' Liliana Bambang, an analyst at Mandiri Sekuritas, said by phone from Jakarta today. ``China in particular has to import oils to curb inflation.'' Palm oil for February delivery, the most-active contract, rose 57 ringgit, or 1.9 percent, to settle at 2,990 ringgit ($888) a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange. Soybean oil rose as much as 1.3 percent to 47.16 cents a pound, the highest in at least 33 years, or 6.8 cents more than palm oil today. China and India, the next largest user, import palm oil to supplement their own oilseed crops. China imported 2.2 million tons of soybean oil in the first 10 months of the year, 81 percent more than the same period last year, the Beijing-based Customs General Administration said Nov. 22. It imported 4.4 million tons of palm oil, 2.2 percent more than the same period last year. China's consumer prices rose 6.5 percent in October from a year earlier, matching August's gain, the fastest pace in more than a decade. In October, China's vegetable oil prices rose 34 percent from a year ago, the fourth month of gains exceeding 30 percent, according to state statistics. Chinese Demand Chinese demand has helped boost soybean oil prices 58 percent since the year started amid supply concerns in the U.S. where the commodity is losing acreage to corn. That has helped lift palm oil by 51 percent so far this year. Palm oil, the world's most consumed vegetable oil, is used in food and soaps, as well as for bio-diesel. It is used as a substitute when supplies of soybean oil, rapeseed oil and other oils fall short. Vegetable oils have also tracked crude oil, which has gained 54 percent since the year started.
