KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slipped on Monday, as sharp drop in demand outweighs tight supplies, while mounting worries over the coronavirus epidemic continues to pressure prices.

The benchmark palm oil contract, for April delivery, on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 2.09 per cent lower at a settlement price of 2,754 ringgit ($664.17) per tonne. Palm oil rallied 8pc last week, the most since November 2016, on expectations of tighter January inventories.

The contract fell on bad exports and the coronavirus scare in Singapore where large trading companies are situated, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Singapore raised its coronavirus alert level on Friday, as fear mounts over the severity of the outbreak that has killed more than 900 people in China as of Sunday.

Feb 1-10 exports fell between 20pc and 29.4pc, cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services, Societe Generale de Surveillance, and Amspec Agri Malaysia said on Monday.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2020