Palm oil hits 1-week low on exports drop, weaker Dalian oils

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures eased to a one-week low on Tuesday tracking deep losses in rival Dalian oils, and as weak partial January exports data weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 34 ringgit, or 0.9%, to 3,763 ringgit a tonne by the midday break, its second straight day of losses.

Overnight weakness in CBOT soybean prices also pressured palm, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Jan. 1-10 fell 29.7% to 278,450 tonnes from the same period in December, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said.

Malaysia's palm oil imports in December soared 150% to a record 282,058 tonnes to cope with rising outflow of crude palm oil after a six-month tax exemption and low output, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Board data on Monday.

Due to the high imports, December stockpile in the world's second largest producer fell less than expected at 1.26 million tonnes.

"We project palm oil stocks to rise by 0.8% month-on-month to 1.28 million tonnes by end-Jan 2021, with output down by 8% month-on-month and exports down by 30% month-on-month," CGS-CIMB Research said in a note.

"We expect output to be lower due to seasonal factors, as well as heavier-than-usual rainfall in some key palm oil regions."

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract and its palm oil contract slumped 2%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.16%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may break a resistance at 3,835 ringgit per tonne and rise to 3,883 ringgit, as suggested by its wave pattern and a projection analysis, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.