Palm oil ends lower after sharp gains

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Thursday, a day after lower stockpiles and tightening production pushed the contract to its biggest jump in 11 years.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 37 ringgit, or 0.82%, at 4,474 ringgit ($1,057.43) a tonne.

It had jumped 7.4% on Wednesday in its best-ever intraday gain since 2009 after the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) reported a larger-than-expected cut in stockpiles.

End-July palm oil stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's No. 2 producer, fell 7.3% from a month earlier to 1.5 million tonnes, according to MPOB data released on Wednesday.

Palm loses nearly 2% on crude oil slump, bleak Aug. 1-10 export outlook

That defied forecasts which pegged them to rise 1.6%, as per a Reuters survey.

Palm prices were likely taking a breather after Wednesday's strong performance, a trader based in Kuala Lumpur said.

"The market seems to be consolidating after yesterday's rally," another trader said, noting that palm could drop further if rival oils fall.

CGS-CIMB Research lowered its forecast for Malaysia's 2021 crude palm oil output to 18.6 million tonnes due to low probability of the government lifting pandemic restrictions for foreign workers, which have exacerbated an acute labour shortage in plantations.

Palm oil prices will likely stay in the 3,500-4,500 ringgit per tonne range in August on expectations of supply remaining below potential for 2021, tight stocks and low global inventories, according to a note by Ivy Ng, the regional head of plantations research at CGS-CIMB Research.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 1.1% and while its palm oil contract gained 2.5%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.2%.

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