KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in nearly two weeks on Monday, stretching losses into a fourth day as a modest pick-up in export demand was offset by strength in the ringgit and lingering concerns over rising yields.

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange had inched down 2.1pc to 2,109 ringgit ($592) a tonne by Monday’s close, just above the intraday low of 2,107 ringgit, the weakest since April 14.

Total traded volume stood at 55,576 lots of 25 tonnes each, well above the usual 35,000 lots. Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that shipments for April 1-25 rose 5.6pc from a month earlier to 904,112 tonnes, thanks to stronger demand from China and Europe.

Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveil­lance showed exports for the same period rose 7.1pc.

Indonesia, the world’s largest palm grower, will keep its export tax for crude palm oil (CPO) unchanged at zero per cent in May. Indonesia is also considering reducing the CPO export tax rates, which currently range from 7.5pc to 22.5pc, according to local media reports.

The threshold of $750 a tonne for the duty to kick in will remain the same, a senior government official was quoted as saying.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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