Palm oil cash prices were rangebound this week, as they continued to track activity in the futures market. Palm oil spot prices at the U.S Gulf have started August steady from a month earlier but down about 17 percent from the 2023 high reached in early April. Rumblings of increased buying interest from major destination markets surfaced earlier in the summer, which boosted cash prices. However, a recent slowdown in demand from India, one of the largest international buyers, has offered pressure. The cash market has been closely mirroring futures values, which have been trending sideways due, in part, to rising production and stockpiles in major producing countries Indonesia and Malaysia.

Figure 1.

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