KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slid nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday after a rally last month that lifted prices to a 15-month high shifted demand for the tropical oil to rival Indonesia.

A firmer ringgit, the currency in which palm oil is traded in, also weighed on prices.

Traders said the price of the Malaysian commodity should drop by around 3pc from current levels to revive demand.

Palm oil for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange closed 1.9pc lower at 2,370 ringgit ($542) a tonne.

The benchmark contract touched a high of 2,444 ringgit, near the 15-month peak of 2,460 ringgit reached on Sept. 29, before sellers surfaced to push the price down to a session trough of 2,353 ringgit.

Malaysia is the world’s second-biggest producer of palm oil after Indonesia.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2015

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