25/01/2018 (The Edge Markets MY) - KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 25): Malaysian palm oil futures fell by more than 1% in evening trade on Thursday as a stronger ringgit helped to halt a three-session run of gains.

The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, has risen steadily since the start of the year and was up 0.7% on Thursday at 3.8840 against the dollar.

A stronger ringgit makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1.1% at RM2,493 (US$641.86) a tonne by the close of trade.

Trading volumes stood at 38,043 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.

"The ringgit appreciated sharply this evening," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, explaining that it led to a sharper decline in palm oil prices.  

The ringgit strengthened after Malaysia's central bank raised key interest rates for the first time in 3½ years, by 25 basis points to 3.25%. The move came as inflation creeps upwards amid robust economic growth.

Meanwhile, exports of palm oil products from Malaysia fell 7% in the Jan. 1-25 period compared with the corresponding period last month, according to data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services on Thursday.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a 6.8% decline in the same period.

In related edible oils, the March soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.1%, while May soybean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dipped by 0.1%.

The Dalian May palm oil contract edged down by 0.04%.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices as of 1037 GMT

Contract	Month	Last	Change	Low	High	Volume
MY PALM OIL	FEB8	2490	-22.00	2490	2514	177
MY PALM OIL	MAR8	2491	-28.00	2491	2524	1319
MY PALM OIL	APR8	2491	-28.00	2491	2526	18960
CHINA PALM OLEIN	MAY8	5226	-2.00	5214	5256	322576
CHINA SOYOIL	MAY8	5778	-4.00	5758	5796	257942
CBOT SOY OIL	MAR8	32.72	+0.04	32.61	32.85	10594
INDIA PALM OIL	JAN8	561.50	-1.00	561.00	566.9	282
INDIA SOYOIL	FEB8	746.5	+2.00	745.4	749.8	27630
NYMEX CRUDE	MAR8	66.03	+0.42	65.74	66.44	145993

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in US 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 US dollars per barrel

(US$1 = RM3.8840)
(US$1 = 63.5900 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.3196 Chinese yuan)