Malaysian palm oil declines

Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Wednesday evening on a strengthening ringgit and forecasts of higher production. The ringgit, in which palm is traded, gained 0.4 percent against the dollar to 4.4430, its highest in more than a month.
A stronger ringgit makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.
Benchmark palm oil futures for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had declined 0.3 percent to 3,150 ringgit ($709) a tonne by the end of the trading day.
Traded volumes stood at 44,012 lots of 25 tonnes each on Wednesday evening.
The market is down primarily due to the stronger ringgit, and also on production that had been picking up slightly, said a trader from Kuala Lumpur.
"Production will start picking up from February-March. We expect it to rise after the Chinese New Year in a better way, and then we'll see a fall in prices," he said.
The Lunar New Year celebrations in China begin on January 28.
Supplies have declined in recent months on low output due to the effects of a crop-damaging El Nino weather phenomenon. Production in Malaysia, the world's second largest producer after Indonesia, fell 6.4 percent in December from the previous month to a seven-month low Industry players, however, forecast a rebound in the second and the third quarter of 2017, as the lingering drought effects of El Nino wear off and crops recover.
Palm oil output is seen rising by 12 percent this year to 19.4 million tonnes from 17.4 million tonnes in 2016, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said at a conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. Palm oil may test resistance at 3,169 ringgit as it has climbed above a wedge chart pattern, analysis by Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao showed.
The March soyabean oil contract on the CBOT rose 0.4 percent, while the May soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.1 percent. In other related edible oils, the May contract for Dalian palm olein declined 0.1 percent.