VEGOILS-Palm falls tracking weaker Dalian Palm Olein, CBOT soybean oil
JAKARTA, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil futures traded lower on Monday after three consecutive sessions of gains, weighed by weakness in Dalian Palm Olein and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean oil.
The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 77 ringgit, or 2.01% to 3,753 ringgit ($801.20) per metric ton by the midday break.
“The prices failed to sustain last Friday’s strength, mainly dragged by morning weakness in Dalian Palm Olein,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.
“Despite seeing some strength in crude oil, continued weakness in CBOT soybean oil sent December palm price to test midday’s low at 3,737 ringgit.”
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 was down 1.85%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 lost 2.56%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOc2 declined 0.47%.
Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Indonesia set its crude palm oil reference price at $798.83 per ton for the Sept. 16-30 period, down from the first half of the month. However, the export tax and levy were left unchanged at $33 per ton and $85 per ton, respectively.
China will increase its imports of Malaysian palm oil by 250,000 tons a year, state news agency Bernama reported on Sunday, citing Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept. 1-15 fell 9.3% from a month earlier to 574,936 tons, independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said on Friday.
Palm oil may fall into a range of 3,705 ringgit to 3,726 ringgit per ton, following its failure to break a resistance zone of 3,795 ringgit to 3,820 ringgit, according to Reuters’ technical analyst Wang Tao.
($1 = 4.6842 ringgit)
(Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Varun H K)
((Dewi.Kurniawati@thomsonreuters.com))
