KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged down slightly at the close of trade on Tuesday, tracking overnight losses in soyoil, but remained largely range-bound as a weaker ringgit offset losses, traders said.

A weaker ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, typically supports the tropical oil by making it cheaper for holders of other currencies. The ringgit weakened 0.1 per cent against the dollar on Tuesday and was last at 4.0445.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.1pc at 2,171 ringgit ($536.78) a tonne at the end of the trading day, near a three-year low hit on Friday. Trading volume stood at 61,574 lots of 25 tonnes each.

“Palm is following the overnight drop in the rival oilseed, but its current recovery and weakness in the local currency may cushion selling activities,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, referring to US soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Malaysia palm oil exports fell 2.7pc in the first half of July from the previous month, according to data from inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia, compared with a 14.4pc decline for the July 1-10 period.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance reported an 8.8pc decline in Malaysian palm oil exports for the July 1-15 period, versus a 23.1pc fall in the June 1-10 period. In related oils, the Chicago December soybean oil contract fell more than 1pc but was last up 0.1pc.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2018