RBD palm olein premium over stearin widened the most in eight weeks or since the end of January rising to $10.50/mt from $3.50/mt a week ago. Both olein and stearin spot month offers climbed steadily rising by 5.60% and 4.85% respec-tively throughout the week, tracking firmer CPO futures and gains in related vegoil futures. Stearin settled at weekly aver-age of $952/mt while olein was at $962.50/mt. On Thurs, stearin cash spot quotation was at $970/mt and olein jumped to $987.50/mt- the highest level in 11 months, reflecting a tight supply fundamentals for Mar delivery. Meanwhile, export demand for stearin rose by 22% to 35,210 mt from a month earlier for the first 15 days of Mar according to ITS data. The rise was driven by gains in shipment to the African continent, China, U.S,A and Turkey. Exports to Kenya dominated the stearin trade flow to the African continent up by 5,700mt from zero last month. In tandem, stearin co-product RBD palm olein was up by 1.84% – with exports to India up to 9,500mt from zero last month. Exports of RBD palm oil was down 12%. Overall Malaysian exports rose by 10% for the 1-15 Mar versus 1-15 Feb period. Only PFAD or palm fatty acid distillate and stearin product showed a rise in exports in the 1-15 Mar period with the former rising by more than fourfold.
Source: POA