Palm oil slips on lower exports, tightening supply limits loss

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Monday, weighed down by weaker exports in October so far, but Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data showing tightening supply helped limit losses.

The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 13 ringgit, or 0.26%, at 4,953 ringgit ($1,188.34) a tonne, after climbing 10% last week.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Oct. 1-10 fell 7.5% to 500,381 tonnes compared with the same period in September, cargo surveyor Amspec Agri said.

Malaysia's end-September palm oil stocks fell 6.99% to 1.75 million tonnes compared with the previous month, according to MPOB data.

Crude palm oil production declined 0.39%, while palm oil exports surged 36.83%, MPOB said.

Palm hits record high of nearly 5,000 ringgit, posts 10% weekly jump

The pace of declines in stockpile is more than expected after production stayed flat, while domestic usage and exports surged, said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics.

MPOB data seems fully priced-in and the major catalyst for the palm oil markets now is the resumption of buying from China after the Golden Week holiday, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 0.5%, while its palm oil contract jumped 1.2%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 0.3%.

Concerns over the shutdown of crushing plants in many Chinese provinces due to power shortages helped boost Dalian palm olein prices, Refinitiv Agriculture Research said in a note.

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

The contract will extend its rally and challenge record-high levels of 5,050 ringgit to 5,070 ringgit this week, also helped by soaring crude prices, according to Refinitiv.