(Updates with closing prices)
By Mei Mei Chu
KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil
futures reversed early losses on Thursday, snapping a three-day
decline as traders shifted their focus to the upcoming palm oil
board data, after a highly-anticipated conference in Kuala
Lumpur did not indicate a clear price trend.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 24 ringgit, or
0.57%, to 4,204 ringgit ($930.29) a tonne.
Weaker Dalian and crude oil are putting some pressure on
the market but downside will be limited by a weak ringgit and
expectation of a sharper drop in February palm inventories, a
Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is scheduled to release
its February supply and demand data on Friday.
Indonesia's biodiesel policy and the likely emergence of the
El Nino weather pattern could further strain global inventories
of palm oil, lifting prices later this year, leading industry
officials and analysts said at a conference on Wednesday.
Malaysian palm oil is expected to trade between 4,000 and
5,000 ringgit ($1,106) per tonne from now until August as
Indonesia's ambitious biodiesel mandate will keep stocks tight
in the first half of 2023, analyst Dorab Mistry said at the
conference.
Analyst James Fry said the contract will trade at 3,350
ringgit by the end-year, pressured by lower gasoil prices.
Analyst Thomas Mielke forecast Malaysian production in 2023
to rise by 600,000 tonnes to 19 million tonnes, while Indonesian
production is seen rising by 1.2 million tonnes to 47.7 million
tonnes.
The market is still digesting the analysts forecast from
the conference, the trader said.
Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 0.5%,
while its palm oil contract also slipped 0.1%. Soyoil
prices on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 0.7%.
($1 = 4.5190 ringgit)
(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; editing by Eileen Soreng and Varun H
K)
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