KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower in a range-bound trading on Thursday ahead of likely price forecasts at an industry event and as crude oil prices fell.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased 0.1 percent to 2,174 ringgit a tonne at noon, heading for a second straight session of losses.
Trading volumes stood at 10,288 lots of 25 tonnes each at the midday break. <1FCPO-TOT>
"We're not seeing much movement in palm today," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader, adding that the market was likely awaiting price forecasts from an industry conference in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya on Thursday.
Another palm oil futures trader added that declines in crude oil prices also weighed on the market.
Palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer, is forecast to rise to 20.3 million tonnes this year, said the director-general of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board at the conference.
Average palm oil prices are also seen rising to over 2,500 ringgit a tonne this year, said another MPOB official.
Oil prices dipped on Thursday as U.S. crude production quickly approached an unprecedented 12 million barrels per day (bpd) just as worries about weakening demand emerge.
Palm oil is affected by crude oil prices, as it is used as feedstock to make biodiesel.
In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract was last down 0.1 percent and the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.7 percent.
The Dalian January palm oil contract declined 0.5 percent.
Palm oil prices are impacted by movements in soyoil rates, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.
Palm oil may fall to 2,150 ringgit per tonne, to fill a gap formed between Jan. 15 and Jan. 16, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
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