KUALA LUMPUR: Malay­sian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in more than five weeks on Friday and recorded their biggest weekly drop in three, dragged down by steep losses in crude oil after Opec decided against curbing output.

The benchmark Febru­ary contract on the Bursa Mala­ysia Derivatives Exchange slid to 2,150 ringgit, its lowest since Oct. 23, before settling down 1.3 per cent at 2,172 ringgit ($642) per tonne by Friday’s close.

For the week, palm recorded a drop of 2.8pc, its steepest decline in three weeks. Total traded volume stood at 50,580 lots of 25 tonnes, much higher the usual 35,000 lots.

Malaysian palm prices may drop to 1,740 ringgit a tonne next year if Brent crude slides to $60 a barrel, industry analyst James Fry warned.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2014