Malaysian palm oil falls for fourth day

Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, hitting a more than one-month low on a stronger ringgit and weaker related edible oils. The market was earlier up on expectations of stronger export data from cargo surveyors, but traders said they anticipated a market decline later in the day on strong selling pressure.
The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.2 percent at 2,499 ringgit ($584.01) a tonne at the close. It earlier fell to 2,469 ringgit a tonne, its weakest since April 25. Traded volumes stood at 60,659 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close. Despite stronger export data, the market fell on weaker soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, as well as a stronger ringgit, said a Kuala Lumpur based trader.
A stronger ringgit, palm's traded currency, typically weighs on palm's prices as it makes the tropical oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies. The currency was last up 0.1 percent at 4.2790 against the dollar on Wednesday evening. Palm oil shipments from Malaysia, the world's second largest producer after Indonesia, showed a 16 percent rise for the full month of May versus April, led by rising exports to India, according to data from ITS that came out during the market's midday break.
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a 15.4 percent rise in the same time period. Palm oil buyers had stocked up on purchases during the month of May ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan which began on Saturday. The event sees Muslims in regions such as India, Pakistan and the Middle East break day-long fasts with communal feasting, incurring higher usage of palm oil for cooking.
Palm oil prices are also impacted by soyaoil prices, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. Soyabean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.4 percent, while the September soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 3.3 percent. The September contract for palm olein declined 3.1 percent. The palm oil August contract may bounce moderately to a resistance at 2,523 ringgit per tonne before falling again, according to Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao.