KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in three days on Monday, tracking weaker related edible oils.

The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 1.3 per cent lower at 2,140 ringgit ($526.19) a tonne in its sharpest daily decline since March 14. It earlier fell to a three-day low of 2,133 ringgit.

“Weak external markets weighed on palm. The market was also earlier overbought, so now it is seeing a pullback,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader. “While exports should be steady, overall production for March should be up slightly.”

Gains in production would add to current stockpiles, which unexpectedly rose 1.3pc to 3.05 million tonnes in February, industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said earlier this month. Palm oil may test a support at 2,142 ringgit per tonne, a break below which could cause a loss to the next support at 2,094 ringgit, Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals, said.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2019