JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures inched higher on Friday on the back of Dalian edible oils strength, but posted their biggest monthly decline in 10 months due to sluggish exports and a stronger ringgit.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange advanced 35 ringgit, or 0.87percent, to 4,040 ringgit (USD1,039.09) a metric ton at closing after a 1percent drop on Thursday.
The contract fell 4.47 percent in February, its steepest monthly decline since April 2025. “Bursa Malaysia crude palm oil futures opened gap higher, following a rally in Chicago soy oil futures overnight,” said Anilkumar Bagani, commodity research head at Mumbai-based brokerage Sunvin Group.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract was unchanged after gaining as much as 0.17percent earlier in the session, while palm oil gained 0.11percent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.03percent after a 1.8percent gain overnight.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for February 1 to 25 fell 16.1percent from a month earlier, according to independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia. Intertek Testing Services pegged the decline at 12.1percent.
The Malaysian ringgit, the contract currency of trade, eased 0.15percent against the US dollar, but hovered around its strongest level since April 2018. It strengthened 1.3percent against the dollar in February for the seventh consecutive month.
A stronger ringgit makes palm oil more expensive for foreign currency holders. Palm oil company First Resources said it had paid USD5.6 million to the Indonesian government “in connection with the land areas that have been handed over” to the government.
Palm oil may break a resistance at 4,058 ringgit per ton, and bounce into a range of 4,076-4,095 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
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