Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Tuesday on weak demand and lower US soyabean prices, failing to sustain Monday's 1.8 percent gain, which had broken a run of four consecutive losses. The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 0.8 percent at 2,169 Malaysian ringgit ($518.90) per tonne.
Volume stood at 35,619 lots of 25 tonnes each. "Demand is not coming in, exports are still looking weak so it's difficult to sustain gains," a trader in Kuala Lumpur said, adding that a weak soyabean market had added to the pressure.
US soyabean futures fell on Tuesday to a six-week low, as a USDA report putting harvesting ahead of market expectations added to pressure from abundant supplies and the US-China trade dispute. The January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose by 0.2 percent on Tuesday, while the January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.6 percent.
The Dalian January palm oil contract edged down 0.6 percent. Palm oil prices are affected by movements of other edible oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market. Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals, said palm oil may hit resistance at 2,202 ringgit per tonne and then resume its downtrend, adding it may eventually fall to 2,099 ringgit.