KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slipped on Tuesday, heading for a third day of decline, amid slowing export demand.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.4 percent to 2,258 ringgit ($554.11) a tonne at the midday break. It had fallen to a three-week low of 2,247 ringgit earlier in the day after hitting a seven-month high last week.
Trading volumes stood at 13,073 lots of 25 tonnes each at noon. <1FCPO-TOT>
"The market had earlier gone up as India had been buying, but since buyers have bought already, they will stop for a bit in February. They also want to see the price projection of the market at a March industry conference, so the market is coming off a bit," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.
"U.S. soybean oil also fell, so palm needs to adjust a bit to that," added the trader, referring to overnight declines in soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products during Feb. 1-10 fell 11.2-15.8 percent from Jan. 1-10, according to cargo surveyors AmSpec Agri Malaysia, Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance.
In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract fell 2 percent on Monday, as concerns over improving crop weather in South America and worries about a looming March 1 deadline for a U.S.-China trade agreement brewed. Soyoil was last slightly up 0.03 percent on Tuesday.
The May contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.6 percent, while the Dalian January palm oil contract declined 0.4 percent.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil rates, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.
Palm may hover around support at 2,264 rgt/T range, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
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