Price trend weak as palm futures drop

HAMBURG: European vegetable oils prices were generally weaker on Wednesday, pulled down by a fall in palm oil futures in Malaysia and an overnight drop in Chicago soyoil.

The main European trade reported was in palm olein oil, crude palm oil and palmkernel oil (see below).

"The fall in Malaysian palm on Wednesday depressed sentiment but US soyoil was rising again in early Wednesday trade in Chicago which helped underpin prices later in the day," one European trader said.

Malaysian palm oil futures touched their lowest in six months, tracking weaker overnight soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and on concerns about higher output.

Chicago soyoil had fallen after the US Department of Agriculture raised its forecasts for soybean crops this year in Brazil and Argentina along with an estimate of larger US soyoil inventories.

In Europe, sellers' prices for crude palm oil were mostly down around $2.5 a tonne compared to Tuesday, although nearby April supplies were up $5 in some short-covering before the Easter holidays.

Palmkernel oil offers were flat to $20 a tonne lower. Palm olein was down between $2.50 to $5 a tonne on most positions.