KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil futures declined on Mon­day evening, snapping two sessions of gains, weighed down by weaker export data from a cargo surveyor and an inspection company.

The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Deri­va­­tives Exchange fell 0.2 per cent to 2,446 ringgit ($614.88) a tonne at the close. The contract had risen 1.3pc to 2,481 ringgit earlier in the session, its highest since April 9, buoyed by overnight strength in US soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and a weaker ringgit, as this makes palm oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.

Trading volume stood at 42,177 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close. Palm oil exports from Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer and exporter, dropped 20.9pc between May 1 and 20 compared with the corresponding period in April.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2018