Malaysian palm oil futures ended flat on Wednesday evening, previously charting two earlier sessions of declines, as it traded in a tight range due to lacklustre export data. The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up slightly at the midday break, but eased gains to close flat at 2,397 ringgit ($613.04) a tonne at the end of the trading day.
Trading volumes stood at 34,768 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade. "The market is waiting for leads. But as data starts coming in, palm will be under pressure," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader. "The export figures are not encouraging," another trader said. The traders were referring to export data from independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia and cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), which was posted earlier in the day.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-25 fell 0.8 percent compared with the corresponding period last month, according to AmSpec. Meanwhile, SGS reported a 2.5 percent decline for the same duration. In other related oils, Chicago's July soyabean oil contract slipped 0.03 percent, while September soyabean oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up 0.4 percent. The Dalian September palm oil contract rose 0.04 percent. Palm oil is impacted by movements in rival edible oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
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