KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures eased on Thursday as a stronger ringgit and weaker related oils on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange weighed on prices.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.8 per cent at 2,189 ringgit per tonne at the close of trade.

The ringgit, palm oil’s currency of trade, strengthened against the dollar by 0.3pc to 4.1640, making it more expensive for foreign buyers.

Palm oil may fall into a range of 2,166-2,183 ringgit per tonne, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.

“(Related oils on) the Dalian Commodity Exchange are lower, and a stronger ringgit also weighed,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.

The market had earlier been lifted by Indonesia’s decision to increase its biodiesel allocation for the country’s mandatory programme in 2019 to 6.63 million kilolitres from a previous allocation of 6.19 million kilolitres.

In other related oils, US soyoil futures on the CBOT rose 1.1pc on Wednesday, and were last up 0.2pc on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019