KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10: Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell marginally on Monday because of rising stocks but losses were limited amid concerns rain could reduce output, traders said.

The palm oil market, which increasingly tracks crude oil prices, is now 6.5 percent off the record high of 3,068 ringgit hit at the end of November.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished down 2 ringgit to 2,868 ringgit ($865) a ton, after hitting an intraday low of 2,843 ringgit.

Palm oil numbers were a bit surprising because exports have gone down and we are seeing a big increase in closing stocks, said one trader with a domestic brokerage.

But people are also worried about the rains which could hit production. Other traded months fell between 6 and 7 ringgit.

But December and January were marginally higher. Overall trade stood at 9,793 lots of 25 tons each.

Malaysia’s crude palm oil output rose 4.4 per cent to 1.65 million tons in November and stocks jumped 16.2 per cent to 1.81 million tonnes, according to the official crop agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

It showed exports fell 7.8 percent 1.2 million tons.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for December 1-10 fell 1.2 per cent to 449,543 tons from 455,051 tons shipped between November 1 and 10, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports during the period rose 0.6 per cent to 432,315 tons.

Palm oil, used in products ranging from ice-cream to body lotion, is up nearly 44 per cent this year.

In Malaysia’s physical market, crude palm oil for December shipments in the southern region were quoted at 2,870/2,880 ringgit a ton. Traders were done at 2,875 ringgit a ton.—Reuters