KUALA LUMPUR: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade lower next week on concerns over a new COVID-19 variant in South Africa which put a dent on market sentiments.

       Palm oil trader David Ng said the market was expected to remain weak as traders would adopt a cautious stance in light of the negative market developments.

       "We expect CPO to hover between RM4,700 a tonne and RM4,950 a tonne,” he told Bernama.

       Meanwhile Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics’ owner and co-founder Dr Sathia Varqa said next week's trading would be influenced by the November supply and demand estimates ahead of actual data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) on Dec 10, 2021.

       Yesterday, the Southern Peninsula Palm Oil Millers' Association (SPPOMA) revealed that the Nov 1-25 production was lower by 4.12 per cent compared to the same period last month.

       On a Friday-to-Friday basis, December 2021 and January 2022 dipped RM168 each to RM5,269 and RM5,037 a tonne respectively, while February 2022 slipped RM144 to RM4,849 a tonne, and March 2022 fell RM133 to RM4,687 a tonne.

       Meanwhile, April 2022 gave up RM66 to RM4,540 a tonne and May 2022 dropped RM66 to RM4,412 a tonne.

       Weekly volume narrowed to 243,663 lots from 297,387 lots in last week, while open interest decreased to 238,648 contracts from 258,518 contracts previously.

       The physical CPO price for December South slid RM90 to RM5,380 a tonne. - Bernama