Palm oil slips on weaker rival oils, crude, soft export data
16/12/2025 (New Straits Times), Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower on Tuesday for a third consecutive session, as weaker rival edible oils, lower crude oil prices and softer export data pressured the market.
The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 24 ringgit, or 0.6 per cent, to 3,989 ringgit a metric ton in early trade.
Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 0.91 per cent, while its palm oil contract shed 1.06 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.38 per cent.
Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
Oil prices fell in early trading, adding to the previous session's losses, as prospects for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal appeared to strengthen, raising expectations of a potential easing of sanctions.
Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
Cargo surveyors estimated that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for December 1-15 fell between 15.9 per cent and 16.4 per cent from a month earlier.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, strengthened 0.1 per cent against the dollar, making the commodity more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.
India's palm oil imports edged up in November as refiners took advantage of lower prices, boosting purchases of the tropical oil while reducing imports of the costlier soyoil and sunflower oil, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India said.
Asian stocks tumbled while the dollar drifted near two-month lows as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of a slate of US data, including the jobs report, that may help gauge the trajectory for Federal Reserve policy next year.