Palm oil falls nearly 2% on weak Jan exports, higher Indian tax

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slid nearly 2% on Tuesday, hit by concerns over additional tax imposed by top global vegetable oil importer India, while a steep decline in January exports also weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 65 ringgit, or 1.86%, to 3,425 ringgit ($847.35) a tonne during early trade.

The contract rose 6% last week, snapping two consecutive weeks of losses after top producer Indonesia set higher tariffs on crude palm oil.

FUNDAMENTALS

• India has imposed an additional tax on crude palm oil imports, as the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils tries to build domestic agriculture infrastructure by taxing imports, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.

• Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for January fell between 32% and 37% from December, cargo surveyors said on Monday.

• European Union palm oil imports in the 2020/21 season rose to 3.38 million tonnes by Jan. 31, compared with 3.29 million a year ago, data published by the European Commission showed on Monday.

  • Dalian's most-active soyoil contract fell 1%, while its palm oil contract were down 0.8%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.7%.

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

• Palm oil may test a resistance at 3,524 ringgit per tonne, a break above which could lead to a gain to 3,610 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.