Palm oil continues to fall on rising stocks and weak demand

Malaysian palm oil futures declined for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday. The December contract on Bursa Malaysia fell by 0.87% to 4,768 ringgit/t, or around $1,169/t.

The market remains under pressure from expectations of higher inventories. Market participants estimate that stocks could reach or slightly exceed 3 mln tons by the end of September, driven by double-digit growth in production, particularly in Sabah.

Demand also remains weak. Cargo surveyors estimated that Malaysian palm oil exports in the first 20 days of September fell by 12.8–24.7% from the previous month.

Lower prices for competing vegetable oils are adding further pressure. The most active soybean oil contract in Dalian fell by 0.27%, while palm oil declined by 1.43%. Chicago soybean oil was down 0.63%.

Weak crude oil prices are also reducing the attractiveness of palm oil as a biodiesel feedstock. Meanwhile, EU palm oil imports in 2026/27 were down 26% year on year to 0.56 mln tons as of September 20.

Tags: prices, Malaysia, palm oil