Palm oil drops to one-month low on dwindling Malaysian exports

Palm oil recorded its lowest close since late March on poor shipments from Malaysia, the world’s second-biggest producer, and an overnight drop in soybean oil prices in Chicago.

Malaysia’s exports slumped more than 18% in the first 25 days of April from a month earlier, according to cargo surveyor AmSpec Agri. Meanwhile, separate data by Intertek Testing Services showed shipments in the period dropped 14% as sales to India plummeted 32% and to China fell about 20%.

“The overall picture looks bearish due to weaker Malaysian exports and as soybean oil seems under pressure,” said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, head of trading and hedging strategies at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental.

The tropical oil extended losses, tracking other vegetable oil markets. Soybean oil, palm’s closest substitute for food and fuel, slipped for a fifth day on Tuesday to mark its longest run of losses since December on favorable weather in the US. Prices rose 0.2% Wednesday.

Palm oil closed 1.8% lower in Kuala Lumpur. Futures have fallen in 11 out of past 14 sessions on demand concerns and expectations of a rise in production in top growers Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tags: demand, exports, soybean oil, prices, Malaysia, palm oil, shipments