KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, ahead of a long weekend in Malaysia, due to expectations of a rise in inventories.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.3 per cent at 2,706 ringgit ($633.87) by market close, after hitting its lowest since Aug 21 at 2,703 ringgit earlier in the session. It shed 2.6pc in four days after touching a five-month high last week.

Traded volumes stood at 37,496 lots of 25 tonnes each on Wednesday. “People are concerned that fundamentals are looking bearish. August stocks are expected to come up,” a trader in Kuala Lumpur said. Palm inventories in August are seen higher as exports are expected to fall from the previous month while production is likely to be higher, the trader said.

Exports of palm oil from Aug 1 to 25 fell by 8.1pc from the same period in the previous month, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services. Meanwhile, some traders also sold to consolidate positions ahead of a long weekend in Malaysia.

The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange market will be closed on Thursday and Friday for public holidays. The October soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was little changed, while January soybean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped 0.8pc in Asia afternoon trade.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2017