KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in a week on Tuesday evening, a fourth straight session of falls, due to a technical correction and traders’ expectations that export demand will cool towards the end of the month.

The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1.4 per cent to 2,767 ringgit ($660.38) a tonne at the closing trade, its sharpest daily drop in a month and a half. It earlier fell to an intra-day low of 2,766 ringgit, its lowest since Sept 11.

Traded volumes stood at 58,495 lots of 25 tonnes each in the evening. “Yesterday’s market decline could have been a sell signal, while good exports are already priced in,” said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur. “Long holidays in China are coming soon, so most buying activities may already be done.”

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2017