Palm slips more than 1%, books second weekly fall

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slipped more than 1% on Friday, booking a second consecutive weekly decline, as weaker rival edible oils and a firmer ringgit pressured prices.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 74 ringgit, or 1.86%, to 3,906 ringgit ($958.76) a metric ton, its lowest closing price since June 12. The contract has declined 2.79% this week.

Crude palm oil prices were mainly pressured by weakness in the rival oilseeds market where the Dalian palm olein remained in the red after overnight declines, said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.

“A firm ringgit near 4.08 are also keeping buyers sidelined,” the trader added.

The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, strengthened 0.17% against the dollar, making the commodity expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 1.41%, while its palm oil contract shed 1.33%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.23%.

Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Oil prices fell and were poised for a second straight weekly decline as a potential supply glut and prospects of a Russia-Ukraine peace deal offset concern over disruptions from a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers.

Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

Indonesia’s palm oil stocks at the end of October fell 10% from a month earlier to 2.33 million metric tons despite an increase in production, data from the Indonesian Palm Oil Association showed.

Indonesia started road tests two weeks ago for biodiesel containing 50% palm oil, a mix known as B50, with the mandatory use of B50 likely to begin in the second half of 2026, energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia said.