Malaysian palm oil retreated on Wednesday, weighed down by weak exports and high end-stocks. The benchmark palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost nearly 0.3 percent to 2,403 ringgit ($557) a tonne at Wednesday's closing. Palm touched a two-month high of 2,442 ringgit on Friday, but it fell 3 percent on Tuesday, the sharpest single-day loss since September 30.
Traded volume stood at 52,965 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. "There's a bearish tone in the market now. Exports are weak, stocks are high... It's not over, it's not the bottom (for the market)," said a trader in Kuala Lumpur. Traders earlier in the day had expected high inventories and slowing exports in December to cap future gains on palm prices.
Stockpiles in the world's second largest producer Malaysia saw record highs in November, government data showed last week. Cargo surveyor data also revealed a sharp drop in palm oil product exports, falling between 34-36 percent in the first 15 days of December compared with a month ago. In competing vegetable oil markets, the US January soyoil contract slid 0.8 percent, while the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.6 percent.
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