Palm oil prices

Published July 14, 2005

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13: Malaysian crude palm oil futures retraced slightly on Wednesday, snapping a four-day gain, after CBOT soyaoil fell in Asian trade on profit-taking.

Dealers said the market was expected to remain cautious until Friday’s release of export estimates for July 1 to 15 from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services (ITS) and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS).

ITS and SGS estimated a 27 per cent drop in shipments of Malaysian oil palm products for the first 10 days of July versus June 1 to 10.

At Wednesday’s close, the benchmark third-month contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, September, closed down 3 ringgit at 1,420 ringgit ($373.68) a ton.

Other traded months were down 3 to 10 ringgit.

Overall volume was 4,811 lots of 25 tonnes each. The market usually sees 6,000 lots or more on a busy day.

Dealers blamed the weak showing on US soyaoil prices.

—Reuters