Crude palm oil's current price of MYR5,000/ton appears unsustainable, unless crude oil prices rise in tandem, Maybank analyst Ong Chee Ting says in a note. Stronger crude oil prices help support CPO by boosting demand for biofuels. Indonesia's move to increase the biodiesel mandate in January next year, alongside reduced export levies since September, present conflicting policies, he says. The country's biodiesel subsidies may run out by end-1Q 2025, due to a widening spread with gas oil and lower levy collections, he reckons. Ong expects CPO prices to fall to MYR4,000/ton by 1Q 2025 and stays neutral on the plantations sector for the next 12 months. Ong pegs SD Guthrie, Sarawak Oil Palms, Genting Plantations and Bumitama Agri as preferred buys. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
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