KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures declined on Monday evening, snapping two sessions of gains, weighed down by weaker export data from a cargo surveyor and an inspection company.
The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.2 percent to 2,446 ringgit ($614.88) a tonne at the close.
The contract had risen 1.3 percent to 2,481 ringgit earlier in the session, its highest since April 9, buoyed by overnight strength in US soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and a weaker ringgit, as this makes palm oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.
Trading volume stood at 42,177 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close.
Palm oil exports from Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer and exporter, dropped 20.9 percent between May 1 and 20 compared with the corresponding period in April, inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said shipments fell 18 percent in the same period.
"The market reacted towards the export data," said a futures trader based in Kuala Lumpur.
In other related oils, the Chicago July soybean oil contract climbed as much as 0.7 percent, while the September soybean oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the Dalian September palm oil contract dipped 0.1 percent.
Palm oil is also affected by movements in rival edible oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
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