KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell more than 1 per cent by Friday’s close, having touched a five-month low, as concern over the US-China trade conflict outweighed data showing easing stockpiles and production.
The Benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled 1.1pc lower on Friday evening at 1,983 ringgit ($477.03).
It earlier fell to 1,970 ringgit, its weakest since Nov 30. Palm prices are also down 1.3pc for the week in a third straight weekly decline.
“The market is still down on the US-China trade war concerns despite the Malaysian Palm Oil Board data,” said one Kuala Lumpur futures trader, referring to industry regulator data released earlier in the day.
The data showed that April stock levels fell 6.6pc to a sixth-month low of 2.73 million tonnes while output declined to 1.65 million tonnes, down 1.4pc from March. Exports rose 2pc to 1.65m tonnes.
Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2019
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