Malaysian palm oil price extends fall to 1-month low on weak demand outlook
08.06.2018 (The Star Online) - NEW DELHI: Malaysian palm oil futures extended falls into a fourth session on Thursday and hit their lowest in one month on continued concerns about weak demand outlook, while declines in Chicago soybeans weighed on the market as well.
The palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.5 percent at 2,382 ringgit ($599.55) a tonne at the midday break.
Trading volume stood at 11,863 lots of 25 tonnes.
"Basically weak demand is causing prices to retreat," said a Kuala Lumpur-based palm oil trader.
Buying for Ramadan has fizzled out as most buyers have already stocked up with the vegetable oil.
"A weaker external market is also influencing Malaysian palm oil prices," said another Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
On Thursday, the most active soybean futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade was 0.1 percent lower at $9.93 a bushel, after hitting its weakest since April 4 at $9.92 a bushel, as uncertainty about the United States' trade relationships with China, the world's top soybean importer, weighed on the market.
Palm oil is influenced by movements in rival edible oils and oilseeds as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Malaysia's palm oil exports in May dropped 8.8 percent from April to around 1.2 million tonnes, independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said last week.
Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) said the country's May palm oil exports fell 9.9 percent from a month ago.
In Indonesia, the world's top palm oil exporter, shipments of palm and palm kernel oils plunged 13.6 percent in April, data from the Indonesia Palm Oil Association showed.
Palm oil still targets 2,364 ringgit, as it has broken a support at 2,408 ringgit per tonne, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals - Reuters