Palm ends nearly 2pc lower as exports, rival oils fall

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell nearly 2pc on Monday, down for a second straight session, pressured by weaker rival oils and a drop in August export volume so far.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 47 ringgit, or 1.7pc, at 2,711 ringgit ($646.55) a tonne, after falling as much as 2.53pc earlier.

The market was volatile during early trade, with the Malaysian bourse tracking Dalian palm oil, a Singapore-based trader said.

Malaysia's palm oil exports for August 1-10 fell between 4.8pc and 6.2pc from July, cargo surveyors said.

Meanwhile, end-July palm oil inventories in the world's second largest producer sank 10.55pc to 1.7 million tonnes from June, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Production fell 4.14pc from the month before, less than estimates of a 5pc decline, according to a Reuters poll.

"(There were) no major surprises on a first glance and all data seems in line with expectations and priced in," said Marcello Cultrera, institutional sales manager and broker at Phillip Futures in Kuala Lumpur.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 1.7pc, while its palm oil contract dropped 2.08pc. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.65pc.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.