Malaysian palm oil futures dropped from an eight-week high on Thursday, falling as much as 1.4 percent in the second half of trade, weighed down by weaker soyaoil on the US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and profit taking. The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.7 percent at 2,183 ringgit ($522.75) a tonne at the close of trade. It earlier rose to 2,200 ringgit a tonne, matching the previous sessions' intraday high, its best since Oct. 24.
Trading volumes stood at 37,486 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. "The market is down tracking soyaoil and profit taking," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, referring to CBOT soyaoil. Palm oil prices are impacted by changes in soyaoil prices, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market. US soyabean prices hit a three-week low on Thursday, with investors disappointed by the strength of Chinese demand for North American supplies amid a truce in a trade war between the two nations.
Soyabean and soyaoil prices were up earlier after Chinese importers booked US soyabean shipments in the second wave of purchases since striking a trade war truce with Washington earlier this month. The Chicago January soyabean oil contract was last down 0.1 percent, while the January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 1 percent. In other related oils, the Dalian January palm oil contract rose 1.6 percent.
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