KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell in late trade on Friday, easing from a more than one-week high reached early in the session, as the market tracked declines in soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Expectations of rising production as the month progresses also added to traders’ concerns and weighed on prices. The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.1 per cent at 2,573 ringgit ($600.89) at the close of trade.

Palm earlier hit 2,589 ringgit, its highest level since July 12. Traded volumes stood at 33,791 lots of 25 tonnes each on Friday evening. “The market is profit-taking on weakness from soyoil, and it is also awaiting production figures,” a Kuala Lumpur based futures trader said.

Output is expected to rise in the second half of the year in line with seasonal trends and is expected to peak in October.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2017