Malaysia : Olein and stearin spread mixed. Stearin export seen strong on robust shipment to China
RBD palm olein spread to RBD palm stearin was mixed last week with stearin moving higher than olein for two of the five days by $10 on Wed and $2.50 on Fri. Overall the premium flipped with stearin at $2 more expensive than olein by weekly average basis. Olein typically trades at a premium to stearin but the spread between the two products been flat in the prior two weeks. RBD palm stearin which is a by-product of fractionation for RBD palm olein been receiving strong price support on export demand mainly from China, while olein largely succumbed to the sell-off in the CPO futures. Malaysia 1-25 Apr palm stearin export is up 15.40% to 82,425 tonnes buoyed by more than twofold rise in shipment to China and nearly dou-ble the volume to the E.U according to ITS data. In contrast, exports of main product RBD palm olein fell 7.79% to 296,415 tonnes during the same period. Malaysia’s palm stearin stocks at refineries could see a reduction at end of Apr from the current 10 month high levels of 130,152 tonnes as stearin export demand stay robust. Meanwhile, China imported 72,216 tonnes of palm stearin in March, 130% more than February but 35% lower year-on-year—according to the General Administration of Customs (GACC) released last week. (Courtesy: POA, Singapore)