KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Monday, a second drop in four sessions, as traders remained cautious over official data due to be released by the industry regulator this week.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 0.6 percent to 2,160 ringgit ($524.78), while trading volumes stood at 30,366 lots of 25 tonnes each. 

“Today’s market behaviour is mostly on corrective measures after the recent rally,” a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader said. “We’re awaiting Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) figures for further leads.”

Palm saw weekly gains of 2.4 percent last week, rising to a two-week high, on a weaker ringgit and after India said it would reduce import taxes on Southeast Asian palm oil.

The MPOB will release production, export and inventory data for December on Thursday. A Reuters poll showed that Malaysian palm oil stocks are expected to rise for a seventh straight month to 3.14 million tonnes, its highest inventory levels since January 2000.

A stronger ringgit, palm oil’s currency of trade, had also weighed on the market, another Malaysian trader said.

The ringgit gained as much as 0.7 percent against the dollar on Monday. It up 0.5 percent at 4.1130 per dollar at 1115 GMT, its highest level in four months.

In other oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract rose 0.3 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the Dalian January palm oil contract was up 1.5 percent.

Palm oil prices are impacted by changes in soyoil prices, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market. – Reuters

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/01/08/palm-slips-on-caution-ahead-of-december-data-release/#P5gmdJ33q6lGqIuU.99