Things are looking up for palm oil stocks

IT was a year of two halves for the listed commodity traders and palm oil plantation firms. But while the light at the end of the tunnel remains unclear for mid-stream traders, plantation stocks are set to ride on rising crude palm oil prices.

Even as the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) climbed upwards in the first half of 2013, shares for the largest commodity trading firms in Asia - Noble Group, Olam International and Wilmar International - slumped.

Only in September did more upbeat market sentiments and a recovery in the prices of some commodities such as sugar, together with positive third-quarter results at Noble and Wilmar, give a boost to their share prices.

Still, Noble will end the year as one of the worst performers on the STI for the third year running, its price having fallen 8.23 per cent this year compared to the STI which dropped by…