KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slumped to a more than five-month low on Friday evening, shedding earlier gains as they tracked a weaker performing rival soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade. Benchmark palm oil futures for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.5 percent at 2,646 ringgit ($598.24) a tonne at the end of the trading day, hitting an intraday low of 2,645 ringgit in late trade.
The contract fell 3.5 percent for the week, and was down 14.5 percent for the quarter ended March. Traded volumes stood at 44,116 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade. “The market is tracking lower soyoil prices ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture report release, which may show a bigger supply (of soy) coming on to the market,” said a Kuala Lumpur based palm oil futures trader. Palm was down despite stronger export data, showing a near 7 percent gain in Malaysian palm oil shipments for the full month of March versus the previous month.
Exports rose 6.8 percent versus the previous month, data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services showed, while Societe Generale de Surveillance showed a 6.9 percent gain. Demand for palm oil is also expected to rise in April, as buyers stock up ahead of Ramadan, the Muslim festival at the end of May, marked by month-long fasting in regions such as India and the Middle East. In other related edible oils, soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade slipped 0.7 percent, while the September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange declined as much as 2 percent. The September contract for palm olein on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 1.2 percent.
