JAKARTA, Sept 11: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down nearly 1 per cent on Thursday, recouping some losses after falling as much as 2.3 per cent on worries over slowing overseas demand.

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 20 ringgit, or 0.86 per cent, to 2,309 ringgit ($665) ton, after falling as low as 2,275 ringgit a ton earlier.

Overall volume reached 8,027 lots of 25 tons.

Having fallen for so many days, the market initially got some support to rebound from external factors like stronger crude oil. But overall, the market remains under pressure from slow demand, a trader at a local brokerage said.

The trader said failure to cross the 2,400-ringgit esistance level on Wednesday lured some speculators back into the market.

“Today, we cannot even test the previous day’s high and theprice has already fallen below 2,300 ringgit, the trader said.

Given the likelihood of a rise in palm oil production this month and a decline in exports, palm futures may trend lower in the near term, with 2,250 ringgit seen as the support level, the trader added.

The price of the reddish-brown oil, which is used for products ranging from soap to biodiesel, has fallen 24.3 per cent so far this year, due to the combination of abundant supplies of vegetable oils and a faltering crude oil price.

Contracts of other traded months dropped between 13 and 77 ringgit.

US crude for October delivery fell 79 cents to 101.79.

In the Indonesian market, palm oil prices lost ground, tracking palm futures in Malaysia.

The price could have been even lower, had the tender been done after the futures dropped below 2,300 ringgit, a trader in Medan said.

The state marketing centre in Jakarta sold crude palm oil at 6,128 rupiah a kg, down from 6,235 rupiah a kg on Wednesday.

In Jakarta, refineries sold refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein, which is used in cooking oil, at 6,700 rupiah a kg, compared to 6,700-6,800 rupiah a kg on Wednesday.

—Reuters