KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down for a third straight day on Wednesday as prices of rival US soyaoil, which often guide the local market, remained weak.

Buyers also shrugged off India’s move to trim base import prices of edible oils, saying the cuts did not offer major advantages to palm oil.

It’s a few dollars of difference here and there, said a trader, referring to the new base prices announced by New Delhi on Wednesday. (For story on India’s new edible oils duty structure.

At the close, the new benchmark third-month February contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives showed 7-ringgit loss to settle at 1,415 ringgit ($374.44) a ton. It fell as much as 12 ringgit earlier to an intraday low of 1,410.

Other traded months closed down 5 to 11 ringgit.

Overall volume was 5,543 lots of 25 tons each, heavier than Tuesday’s 4,855 lots. The market can easily surpass 6,000 lots on a busy day.

Dealers attributed the bearish streak to weakness in Chicago Board of Trade’s soyaoil.

The CBOT is down and aside from that, there isn’t much for people to follow, said a trader.

Soyaoil and palm oil compete for exports and their prices often move in step.

CBOT soyaoil closed down fell on Tuesday on thin leads and remained depressed in Wednesday’s electronic session, conducted during Asian business hours.

Palm oil dealers said there was little cheer in their market after the poor performance of exports this month due to long holidays for religious festivities.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) said on Monday that Malaysian exports of oil palm products for Nov. 1-15 were estimated to have fallen 16.7 per cent from figures tracked for Oct. 1-15.

It had earlier estimated a 40 per cent drop in shipments for Nov. 1-10 due to a near week-long break for Diwali and Eid al-Fitr festivals.

In physical dealings of crude palm oil on Wednesday, the November contract saw buyers/ sellers at 1,415/1,420 ringgit a ton.

Trades were reported at 1,422.50-1,420 ringgit in the southern region of Malaysia and 1,422.50-1,415 in the central region.—Reuters