KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a third straight session on Wednesday as concerns grew over declining exports, although worries about declining output limited losses. The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 10 ringgit, or 0.3%, to 3,356 ringgit ($825.99) a tonne.
"Palm oil prices are seen correcting in a bid to adjust with Indonesia's progressive export levies, falling soyaoil prices, and continued palm oil shipment washouts from key buyer China," said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.
Indonesia announced higher export levies last week, but the country is still set to export 36 million tonnes of palm oil next year, the country's Estate Crop Fund said on Tuesday.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said last week exports from Malaysia during Dec. 1-5 fell 20% from the same period in November, and the market is also expecting a slump in Dec. 1-10 exports.
The focus now is on Dec. 1-10 export data and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board supply and demand figures for November due on Thursday. A Reuters survey showed November production likely slumped 10% from the previous month to 1.55 million tonnes, while stockpiles fell 2%.
Unfavourable weather conditions and downward output trends will cut Malaysian palm oil production in 2020/21 to 19.3 million tonnes and Indonesia's output to 47.2 million tonnes, Refinitiv Commodities Research said in a note. Dalian's most-active soyaoil contract fell 1%, while its palm oil contract rose 0.2%.
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