Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Thursday and snapped two sessions of gains after hitting a 20-month high earlier in the session, on the back of a stronger ringgit and weaker export demand
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell nearly 2 percent on Monday after earlier hitting their highest level in nearly two years, weighed down by weaker-than-expected export data.
The palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.8 percent to reach 2,592 ringgit ($628.36) per tonne at the close of trade. The contract earlier hit a high of 2,648 ringgit, its highest since April 29, 2014.
Traded volume stood at 40,771 lots of 25 tonnes each.
"The market was earlier up on Chicago Board of Trade soyoil and Dalian palm olien," said a trader based in Kuala Lumpur. "Now it is down on export figures," the trader added.
Palm oil shipments from Malaysia fell in the first half of
February, dropping 16.1 percent compared with a month ago
according to Intertek Testing Services cargo surveyor data,
while Societe Generale de Surveillance registered a 14.2 percent
fall.
Exports fell due to weak demand from top palm importers
China and India.
Shipments of the tropical oil have been falling in recent
weeks as a slowing Chinese economy eases demand for palm. The
winter season in the northern hemisphere also reduces demand for
palm, as the vegetable oil solidifies in cold climates.
Palm oil still targets 2,672 ringgit per tonne, as suggested
by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, said
Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy
technicals.
In competing vegetable oil markets, the May soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 2
percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1011 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL FEB6 0 +0.00 0 0 0
MY PALM OIL MAR6 2548 -42.00 2532 2598 1086
MY PALM OIL APR6 2592 -47.00 2590 2648 15465
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY6 4998 +188.00 4888 5042 751468
CHINA SOYOIL MAY6 5818 +112.00 5756 5872 427458
CBOT SOY OIL MAR6 31.80 -5.90 0.00 0.00 0
INDIA PALM OIL FEB6 479.40 -5.90 470.80 485.00 1418
INDIA SOYOIL FEB6 617.95 -1.60 617.20 620.50 1330
NYMEX CRUDE MAR6 29.94 +0.50 28.95 29.95 42728
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 4.1250 ringgit)
($1 = 68.1000 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.4920 Chinese yuan)
- Reuters
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