Please be informed that Options on CPO futures contracts (OCPO) will launch today (16 July 2012).



RTRS- Top palm oil producer Indonesia wants to be more refined

JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Reuters) - For decades, Indonesia has shipped out tanker loads of raw palm oil for processing into higher value cooking oil and margarine in Rotterdam, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur.

Now, the world's No. 1 producer of the edible oil is seeing a more than $2.5 billion wave of investment to build a refining industry that will double its capacity and mean it could supply the entire needs of Asia's top food consumers - India and China.

The transformation - driven by Indonesia's move to slash export duties for processed oil last October - will heat up competition with rivals such as Malaysia and send ripples through the palm oil market as new supply pressures prices of traded refined products such as palm olein, used as cooking oil.

A Reuters survey of 30 firms operating in Indonesia - from the world's biggest listed palm oil firm Wilmar WLIL.SI to conglomerate Unilever ULVR.L - shows plans to nearly double refining capacity to 43 million tonnes of palm oil, or 80 percent of total world output.

"The government is sending a clear message - to survive, you need a refinery. So the palm oil firms are putting their money out and following the big guys in the industry who have already done so," said Thomas Mielke, an analyst at industry publication Oil World.

"There is the threat of over capacity. But palm oil firms with the whole supply chain behind them, we are talking about having plantations to mills and ports, will be the kings."

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks shed the sour tone that plagued equities all week on Friday, with a rally that broke a six-day losing streak.

Major indexes surged more than 1 percent, lifted by Chinese growth figures that eased concerns about a slowdown and earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N that assuaged fears about the long-term impact of trading losses that cost the bank $5.8 billion for the year.

"The market was very oversold, so with China looking better than we previously thought, and JPMorgan looking like it has healed itself, things appear contained for the moment," said John Manley, chief equity strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in New York.

"We're putting in a bottom, not a top," he added.

Banking shares led the gains following results from JPMorgan and mortgage giant Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N. JPMorgan was the Dow's top gainer, rising 6 percent to $36.07 while Wells Fargo rose 3.2 percent to $33.91.

Data showed growth in China slowed for a sixth straight quarter to 7.6 percent, but the result was better than some in the market had feared. It also kept open the possibility that more stimulus may be forthcoming from China's policymakers.

After the market fell every day this week until Friday, the gains lifted the S&P into positive territory for the week. Stocks also ended lower last Thursday and Friday.

With a full slate of corporate earnings next week, some investors believe the market may see more upside after the recent run of pessimistic earnings outlooks.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 203.82 points, or 1.62 percent, at 12,777.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 22.01 points, or 1.65 percent, at 1,356.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 42.28 points, or 1.48 percent, at 2,908.47.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose for a third day in a row on Friday, and gained more than 3 percent for the week as China's second quarter GDP turned out not as bad as some predicted, easing global growth worries.

CBOT SOYBEAN- Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures were higher as heat and drought continued to eat away at U.S. 2012 crop prospects.

• Very warm temperatures accompanied by only light "teaser" rains over the next week may slow deterioration of corn and soybean crops, but there will not be enough rain to end the drought, an agricultural meteorologist said on Friday.

• "There is not much change, about the same forecast, with very warm weather and restrictive rains over the next week," said Drew Lerner, meteorologist for World Weather Inc.

• The NOPA crush report will be released on Monday, and an average of analysts' estimates pegged the U.S. June soybean crush at 133.075 million bushels and June U.S. soyoil stocks at 2.281 billion lbs.

• USDA said private exporters reported the sale of 150,200 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to an unknown destination.

• Brazil's 2012/13 soybean output could surpass U.S. production of the oilseed for the first time in history due to the drought in the U.S. Midwest growing areas, Sao Paulo analyst Agroconsult said on Friday.

• August was above all key moving averages. The nine-day RSI was at 72.

FCPO- SINGAPORE, July 13 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended higher on Friday as concerns over tighter global oilseed supply came back into play, while traders were mostly relieved that China's gross domestic product data landed in line with forecasts.

The market shrugged off forecasts of weekend rain in parts of the U.S. Midwest, investors betting on lower soybean output after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut yield estimates in its Thursday report. (nL2E8IB261)

China's economy grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012 from a year earlier, its slowest pace in three years and in line with a Reuters poll. Market players are now on the lookout for possible stimulus measures that could spur growth and commodity demand. (nL3E8I52QD)

Benchmark September palm oil futures FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 1.8 percent to close at 3,065 ringgit ($963) per tonne.

Traded volumes stood at 33,372 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, July 13 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Friday amid optimism over China's second-quarter GDP data, with stronger oil prices lifting commodities and energy-linked counters such as Golden Agri Resources Ltd GAGR.SI and Bumi Resources Tbk BUMI.JK.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index .FTSTI ended up 0.8 percent at 2,995.56, edging up 0.6 percent on the week, its fifth consecutive week of gain.

Thai SET index .SETI climbed 1.4 percent on Friday to a two-month closing high, gaining 0.9 percent this week, its third. Buying came after a court dismissed petitions against the government's proposed constitutional changes, easing concerns about political uncertainty.