October 19, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 6, 1428

JAKARTA, Oct 18: Indonesian palm oil prices were steady on Thursday on local demand despite losses in Malaysia while the cooking oil market was quiet as some dealers had not resumed trading after the Eid-ul-Fitr break.

The state marketing centre, which sells crude palm oil from state plantations, will resume tenders on Oct. 22.In North Sumatra’s Medan, dealers sold crude palm oil at 7,490 rupiah ($0.824) a kg, unmoved from last Thursday with 400 tonnes changing hands.

Although Malaysian crude palm oil future extended losses this morning, our prices stayed stable. Some refiners just needed the oil, so they bought it, said a trader in Medan, the key port for crude palm oil export.

Malaysian palm oil futures steadied around 3 per cent off their record peak on Thursday, split between firm prices of rival soybean oil and crude and fears of weaker exports.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slipped 6 ringgit to 2,708 ringgit ($804) per tonne, after going as low as 2,680 ringgit by the midday break.

Crude palm oil-based cooking oil was quoted at 7,650 rupiah a kg in Jakarta, unchanged since Wednesday.

The prices of local cooking oil stayed stable but the market was still quiet as many dealers are still enjoying their holiday, said an olein dealer in Jakarta.

In the export market, crude palm oil for November shipment free on board Belawan was offered at $837.5 a ton, down from $850 a ton on Wednesday. Buyers bid at $830 without any deals reported.—Reuters