JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures posted a second consecutive weekly loss of about 8% on Friday, weighed by rising Indonesian exports and an expectation of improving output.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.31% lower at 5,456 ringgit ($1,240.00) a tonne. It has fallen as much as 2.26% during the session and hit its lowest since Feb. 16.

For the week, palm has posted a 7.8% loss, after last week’s 8.3% decline.

“Concern of slow exports coupled with rising shipment from Indonesia (impacted palm prices),” a trader in Kuala Lumpur said, adding that the worry of a sharp increase in June production also weighed on sentiment.

The world’s top palm oil exporter Indonesia has issued permits for shipment of more than 820,000 tonnes of the edible oil under its Domestic Market Obligation scheme and its export acceleration programme as of late Wednesday, a trade ministry official said.

Palm hits four-month lows on concerns over higher output, Indonesian exports

Meanwhile, cargo surveyors this week reported a monthly decline in Malaysian palm oil products exports in the first half of June.

Elsewhere, Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract fell 1.32%, while its palm oil contract fell 1.85%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade slipped 0.16%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may hover above a support at 5,394 ringgit per tonne, or bounce into a range of 5,571-5,702 ringgit, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.