Indian festival demand combined with El Nio premium, palm oil bulls usher in double positive.

Rising demand expectations ahead of the festival season in India, combined with Malaysia's export growth and India being the largest buyer, have pushed up palm oil prices. The benchmark futures contract on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose to around 4,600 ringgit per ton, recovering some of the losses from earlier in the week. Data from Intertek Testing Services shows that Malaysia's exports grew by 11% in the first 25 days of June compared to the previous month, with shipments to India increasing. Another inspection agency, AmspecAgri, also reported a similar increase in exports. Aashish Acharya, Vice President of Patanjali Foods, one of India's largest vegetable oil buyers, stated that demand in India is expected to continue to rise over the next four months, leading up to the peak of the Diwali festival in November. In the short term, demand from the hotel and catering industry is expected to increase as the government relaxes restrictions on cooking gas implemented due to tensions with Iran. Senior analyst Sathia Varqa from Fastmarkets Palm Oil Analysis Company stated that positive export fundamentals, combined with a premium due to the El Nio weather pattern, are supporting prices. Some buyers are also taking advantage of the low prices after they dropped to a more than one-week low.