KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures traded flat on Tuesday, after posting their sharpest intraday fall in two months in the previous session, as the market showed mixed signals on rising output and stronger-performing related oils.
Palm oil prices are usually weighed down by increasing supplies, but supported by gains in competing oils such as soyoil as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was flat at 2,593 ringgit ($584.93) a tonne at the midday break. Earlier in the session, it hit a six-month low of 2,580 ringgit, its weakest level since Oct. 11.
Traded volumes stood at 18,824 lots of 25 tonnes each at noon.
"(China's) Dalian and Chicago Board of Trade soyoil look supportive... The outlook is not so bearish today," said a trader from Kuala Lumpur.
Palm oil prices on Monday closed at their lowest since Oct. 11 after a Malaysian industry regulator released production data, which revealed end-stocks outpaced expectations.
Data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) showed that output surged 16.3 percent to 1.46 million tonnes in March, its first monthly gain since September, and its strongest on-month rise in over a year.
The data also stated that end-stocks rose 6.5 percent on-month to 1.55 million tonnes, while exports climbed 14.3 percent to 1.27 million tonnes.
Palm oil may break a support at 2,591 ringgit per tonne and fall more towards the next support at 2,561 ringgit, according to analysts by a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
In related edible oils, soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade gained as much as 0.6 percent, while the September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.4 percent.
The September contract for palm olein on the Dalian Commodity Exchange slid 2.3 percent.
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