Malaysian palm oil futures dropped from an eight-week high on Thursday, falling as much as 1.4 percent in the second half of trade, weighed down by weaker soyoil on the U.S. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and profit taking.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell over 1 percent to their lowest in nearly three weeks on Monday as traders turned bearish due to a weaker outlook for exports.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1.1 percent to 2,266 ringgit ($556.76) a tonne at the end of the trading day, a second straight day of declines.
It had earlier fallen to 2,264 ringgit, its lowest since Jan. 23.
Trading volumes stood at 35,402 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade.
"The market is down on lower exports and the anticipation that U.S. soyoil will slip lower tonight," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
Another trader had earlier said that weak external markets, led by the falls in crude and U.S. soyoil, also weighed on palm.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-10 fell 11.2-13 percent from Jan. 1-10, according to independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia and cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services.
Malaysian exports rose 21.2 percent to 1.68 million tonnes in January, according to industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, but the strong demand trend is not seen continuing in February.
The MPOB data also showed January stockpiles falling 6.7 percent from the previous month to 3 million tonnes, while production fell 3.9 percent to 1.74 million tonnes.
In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract fell 1 percent, while the May contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.4 percent.
The Dalian January palm oil contract, meanwhile, was trading flat around 1105 GMT.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil rates, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.
Palm oil may fall into a range of 2,256-2,274 ringgit per tonne, as its uptrend from the Nov. 27 2018 low of 1,940 ringgit has reversed, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. - Reuters
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