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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28: Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell 1.7 per cent to a one-week low on Wednesday, pulled down by losses in crude and soyaoil markets.Prices of the commodity are now 4.4 per cent off a record high of 3,068 ringgit struck on Monday.
The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 52 ringgit at 2,933 ringgit ($869) per ton, a level not seen since Nov. 20.
Palm oil traders said they were awaiting outcome of a meeting of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) next week on output increase.
It’s a decent correction from crude and soyaoil markets but the main story is whether Opec will raise crude output, said a head trader with a foreign commodities firm.
If output is raised, there will be a big sell-down for palm oil because demand from the energy sector would move back to crude oil.
Crude oil markets increasingly influence prices of vegetable oils such as soyaoil and palm because of increasing use of edible oils in making biofuels which compete with petroleum.
Other traded months fell between 55 and 64 ringgit.
Overall trade stood at 10,112 lots of 25 tons each.
Oil eased towards $94 a barrel on Wednesday as investors took stock of negative economic data in top consumer the United States and bet on Opec raising supplies.
Several Opec members are advocating an increase in production when the cartel meets in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 5.
Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade slid Tuesday on spillover selling from crude oil and a firmer dollar, traders said.
CBOT soyaoil closed 0.39 to 0.75 cent lower, with December 0.39 cent weaker at 46.30 cents.
Refined palm oil futures in China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange also fell.
The January contract was down slightly at 8,750 yuan ($1,183) while the May contract fell nearly 2 per cent to 8,550 yuan.
In Malaysia’s physical market, crude palm oil for November and December shipments in the southern region was quoted at 2,950/2,970 ringgit a ton.
Trades were done between 2,970 and 2,980 ringgit.
—Reuters
