KUALA LUMPUR: Malay­­sian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in more than five months on Monday in a third consecutive session of losses, weighed down by weaker performing related vegetable oils.

Benchmark palm oil futures for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Deri­vatives Exchange were down 2.1 per cent at 2,695 ringgit ($611.25) a tonne at the close of trade, its biggest daily decline in two weeks.

The contract earlier fell to an intraday low of 2,685 ringgit, its weakest since Oct 14.

Traded volumes stood at 45,445 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.

Palm oil prices often take direction from related vegetable oils, including soyoil, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.

Soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 1pc, while the September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped 2.9pc.

The September contract for palm olein on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dropped as much as 2.4pc. Palm has been range-bound since late-February based on mixed market signals, according to traders, as demand remains weak and output growth is still uncertain.

Palm was down 1.7pc on a weekly basis last week. Shipments from Malaysia, the world’s second largest producer after Indonesia, dipped during the March 1-25 period, cargo surveyor data showed.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017