Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1 percent on Monday, charting a second straight session of losses as they tracked declines in crude oil and soyaoil prices on the US Chicago Board of Trade. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 1.6 percent at 2,185 ringgit ($526.13) a tonne, its sharpest daily decline in nearly three weeks.
It had risen to a three-week peak of 2,235 ringgit on Friday, before reversing course and ending the session lower. Trading volumes totalled 33,061 lots of 25 tonnes each on Monday. "Soyabean oil and crude oil are both down," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
Oil dropped below $83 a barrel on Monday, pressured by expectations that some Iranian oil exports will keep flowing after the US reimposes sanctions, easing a strain on supplies.
Another palm futures trader said the market was cautious ahead of official September supply and demand data and Oct. 1-10 export figures, adding that "upside attempts may take a breather."
Malaysia's palm oil stocks likely edged down in September from seven-month highs in August as shipments from the world's No. 2 exporter of the commodity outpaced production growth for the month, according to a Reuters survey.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release official data on Wednesday. Palm oil could fall to 2,200 ringgit per tonne, following its failure to break resistance at 2,240 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
In related oils, the Chicago December soyabean oil contract was down 0.9 percent. Meanwhile, the January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.6 percent and the Dalian January palm oil contract gained 1.1 percent. Palm oil prices are affected by movements of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.