KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slid on Wednesday, retreating from a three-week high achieved in the previous session as the market tracked softer related vegetable oils.

The benchmark palm oil contract for the November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1 per cent at 2,262 ringgit per tonne at the close.

The January soyoil contract on the Dalian exchange fell 0.7pc, while the Dalian January palm oil contract dropped 2pc. Soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.1pc.

“Palm oil is tracking the external markets at the moment, its price seems to be consolidating to establish a trading range of 2,100-2,300 ringgit per tonne,” a trader said.

Lower production, shrinking stockpiles and improved demand should keep sentiment relatively buoyant, the trader added.

Palm rose to its highest since Aug 26 on Tuesday, as it posted a gain of 4.3pc, its highest in almost four years.

The Indonesia Palm Oil Association said on Tuesday its palm oil production is expected to rise at a slower pace this year by about 6.3pc versus a year earlier. It also said inventories reached 3.51 million tonnes at the end of July, compared with 3.55 million tonnes a month earlier.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2019