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VEGOILS-Palm oil slips on falling exports, set for fourth consecutive weekly loss

Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Friday, heading for a fourth successive week of losses, as declining exports and lower soybean oil costs weighed.

The benchmark palm oil agreement for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange moved 17 ringgit, or 0.44%, to 3,829 ringgit ($ 808.66) per metric load by the midday break.

The agreement has so far lost 1.72% today.

Although production in Malaysia has started enhancing, palm oil exports on the planet's second-biggest producer were falling, a Mumbai-based trader with a global trade house stated.

April exports were down ... this is weighing on belief. The rate drop in soybean oil is likewise putting pressure, the trader stated.

Malaysian palm oil exports fell between 9% and 11.5% in April from a month previously, freight surveyors Intertek Screening Services and Amspec Agri stated.

While the soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade ( CBOT) was up, it hovered near four-year lows reached previously this year amidst plentiful supply, and speculators are still banking on lower costs.

Soyoil costs on CBOT were down 0.58%. The Dalian Product Exchange is closed till May 5 for International Labour day vacations.

Palm oil is affected by cost movements in related oils, as they compete for a share in the international veggie oils market.

Oil costs edged up in early trade on Friday on the possibility of OPEC+ continuing output cuts, however the crude benchmarks were headed for weekly losses on U.S. financial uncertainty and restricted crude supply disruptions caused by the Israel-Hamas war.

Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive alternative for biodiesel feedstock.

Palm oil imports in India, the world's most significant importer of veggie oils, jumped 41% in April from the previous month to the greatest level in 3 months as easing costs prompted refiners to increase purchases, 5 dealers informed .

The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, strengthened 0.36% versus the dollar, making the commodity more costly for purchasers holding the foreign currency.

Palm oil may increase into a range of 3,899 ringgit to 3,926 ringgit per metric load, as it has handled to stabilise around assistance at 3,812 ringgit, technical analyst Wang Tao said.

(source: Reuters)