KAULA LUMPUR: Malay­sian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in three months on Monday evening as sentiment took a hit from India’s move to raise import tax on edible oils to its highest in over a decade.

India, the world’s largest importer of edible oils, said it would raise import tax on crude palm oil to 30 per cent from 15pc and increase import tax on refined palm oil imports to 40pc from 25pc.

Weaker export data from a cargo surveyor and a stronger ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, also weighed on the market, traders said. Gains in the ringgit usually make the edible oil more expensive for foreign buyers.

The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 3.2pc to 2,628 ringgit ($633.56) a tonne by the end of the trading day, its sharpest daily drop since mid-February. It earlier touched 2,626 ringgit, the weakest price since Aug. 16. Traded volume stood at 54,764 lots of 25 tonnes each.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017