Palm falls on weak exports, high stocks

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures recorded a fifth straight day of losses on Thursday, hitting their lowest in two months, as exports weakened and inventories remained high.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.5 percent lower at 2,121 ringgit ($522.02) a tonne, having earlier hit its lowest level since Dec 28 at 2,115 ringgit.

It was 7.7 percent lower on the month.

"Palm's fundamentals are still in play, exports are weak and stocks are high," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services, AmSpec Agri Malaysia and Societe Generale de Surveillance reported on Thursday that exports in February declined 14.5-15.3 percent from the previous month.

Stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's second largest palm oil producer and exporter, fell 6.7 percent month-on-month in January to 3 million tonnes but were still close to their highest in nearly two decades.

February data will be reported by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board on March 11.

In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract was last up 0.3 percent.

The May soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.2 percent and the Dalian May palm oil contract was down 0.5 percent.

Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyoil, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.