Malaysian palm oil fell on Friday and notched its worst weekly showing since June as short-sellers tapped on concerns of eurozone debt plunging the world into a recession. The sellers, led by a major Singapore-listed planter with assets in Asia, had earlier pushed the market lower for much of the week. At one point the market hit a one-year low of 2,754 ringgit.
"There is more short-selling going on, there could be a rebound next week but it all depends on the global economic situation," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. The benchmark December palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 1.3 percent to 2,772 ringgit ($872) per tonne.
Overall traded volumes were light at 21,749 lots of 25 tonnes each from the usual 25,000 lots. Palm oil prices, which have lost more than a quarter of their value so far this year, have also been weakened by expectations of high stocks and concerns that demand will lose steam after India ends its festival season this month. Traders are expecting exports for the first ten days of October to show a strong rise on last-minute buying from India and China. Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale are due to issue export data on Monday.
"Food buyers are a little cautious but biofuel producer want to buy since palm oil has come down so much and energy prices are still above $100," said another trader. US soyoil for October delivery edged higher in Asian trade with gains limited by a forecast of higher soy crop yields and ideal weather. China's vegetable oil markets were shut for a week for the national day holiday.
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