10/11/2017 (The Star Online) - KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell in the second half of trade on Thursday, dropping from a one-week high earlier in the session on expectations of weaker cargo surveyor export data scheduled for release on Friday.

The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.4 percent at 2,809 ringgit ($668.01) a tonne at the close of trade, snapping two earlier sessions of gains.

It rose earlier in the session to 2,837 ringgit, its strongest since Nov. 2.

Traded volumes stood at 41,406 lots of 25 tonnes each in the evening.

"The market weakened on slowing exports outlook," said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, referring to expectations that palm oil shipments for the first 10 days of November would fall compared to the corresponding period in October.

Data from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance is scheduled for release after 0300 GMT on Friday.

Palm oil consumption typically falls in the last quarter of the year when the northern hemisphere enters winter, curbing demand from key markets like China and Europe as palm oil solidifies in cold temperatures.

Another trader said the palm market weakened as "soyoil also turned negative" and due to a stronger ringgit.

Gains in the ringgit, palm oil's traded currency, typically makes the edible oil more expensive for foreign buyers. The ringgit strengthened 0.5 percent to 4.2050 per dollar on Thursday afternoon, its strongest level in over a month.

Palm oil is also affected by other edible oils as they compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market. The December soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade dipped as much as 0.3 percent.

In other related oils, the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.3 percent, while the January palm olein contract on Dalian rose 1.5 percent. - Reuters