Palm falls on weaker rival oils, stronger ringgit

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell about 1 percent on Tuesday, in tandem with rival oils, as a stronger ringgit weighed on the market.

The Malaysian currency hit its strongest level in nearly seven months and was last up 0.12 percent at 4.2570 per dollar.

Gains in the ringgit, the currency of trade for palm oil, make the tropical oil less attractive for holders of foreign currencies.

The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.92 percent at 2,476 ringgit ($581.63) a tonne at the midday break.

Traded volumes stood at 14,517 lots of 25 tonnes each.

Palm oil prices were tracking weakness in energy commodities and related vegetable oils, said a trader based in Kuala Lumpur, adding that continued gains in the ringgit also weighed on sentiment.

Palm oil prices generally track the movements of soyoil as both of them compete for a share in the global edible oils market.

Soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 0.29 percent, while the September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.07 percent.

In other related oils, the September contract for palm olein was down 1.18 percent.