Malaysian palm oil futures dropped on Monday, snapping a three-day winning streak, hurt by weak export data. The latest cargo surveyor data showed a 10.1 percent decline in palm shipments for November 1-30, compared with the same period in October. The February benchmark palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down about 0.7 percent at 2,346 ringgit ($551.22) per tonne at the end of the trading day. Traded volume stood at 36,876 lots of 25 tonnes each.
"With the currency weakness, it's expected to improve or remain unchanged," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, referring to palm prices. A weak ringgit lends support to palm prices as it makes the tropical oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. The ringgit weakened to 4.2560 against the dollar on Monday. Palm had fallen to a near one-month low last Wednesday, before rising 5 percent to a 2-1/2 week high on expectations that the year-end monsoon season will slash output.
In other vegetable oil markets, the US December soyoil contract rose 0.3 percent. The May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange lost 0.5 percent. In related markets, crude oil futures fell as a global supply glut showed no signs of easing, while weak stocks and a stronger dollar further weighed on prices.
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