Palm oil falls for third session on weaker rivals

Malaysian palm oil futures dropped for a third straight session on Tuesday to hit their lowest in four weeks, tracking weakness in rival Dalian and Chicago edible oils.

The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost RM26, or 0.59 per cent, to RM4,347 (US$1,029.12) a metric ton by 0240 GMT.

The contract hit its lowest since October 1 earlier in the session.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract was down 0.58 per cent, while its palm oil contract fell 1.45 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade lost 0.49 per cent.

Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for October 1-25 were seen down between 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent from a month earlier, cargo surveyors AmSpec Agri Malaysia and Intertek Testing Services said.

Oil prices slipped on Tuesday, extending falls from the two previous sessions, as pressure from plans by OPEC to boost output offset optimism over a potential US-China trade deal.

Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, strengthened 0.07 per cent against the dollar. A stronger ringgit makes palm oil more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.

Palm oil is expected to retest support at RM4,346 per ton, a break below which could trigger a fall to RM4,308.

Asian shares consolidated recent hefty gains on Tuesday as hopes for an easing in global trade tensions kept risk appetites keen, while the bull run in tech stocks counted on a bumper round of big-cap earnings this week.

Tags: Malaysia, palm oil, futures, benchmark contract, soyoil