Palm oil tracks Dalian lower, falls for second session

JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses to a second session on Tuesday as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend, pressured by declines in Dalian edible oils.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 32 ringgit, or 0.76%, at 4,197 ringgit ($1,066.31) a metric ton by the midday break.

The contract rose 4.42% in January, its first monthly gain in five months.

“Palm oil futures opened lower on spread adjustments against weaker rival oilseeds,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. Market participants await December production data from the South Malaysia Palm Oil Association (SPOMMA) and surveyor data for December exports, the trader added.

India’s palm oil imports surged 51% in January to a four-month high, as the tropical oil’s discount to rival soyoil prompted refiners to ramp up purchases while cutting soyoil imports to a 19-month low, according to five dealers.

Indonesia exported 23.61 million metric tons of crude and refined palm oil in 2025, up 9.09% from year-ago levels, the statistics bureau said on Monday.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for January rose 17.9% month-over-month to 1,463,069 metric tons, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract shed 1.13%, while its palm oil contract lost 0.29%.

Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade surged 1.1%. Chicago soybean futures climbed on Tuesday, recouping some of the previous session’s losses as steady crude oil lent support to prices, while wheat and corn were also trading higher.

Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may test support at 4,201 ringgit per metric ton, a break below may trigger a fall into the 4,115 ringgit to 4,158 ringgit range, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.