Malaysian palm oil lower

Malaysian palm oil futures dropped as much as 2.4 percent to a near one-week low on Thursday with traders taking profits from a rally fuelled by crude oil and higher exports. The ringgit was still strong despite easing to 3.356 against the dollar, keeping the pressure on refiners' margins and snapping palm oil's three-day winning streak.
Other vegetable oil markets also eased in Asian trading as crude oil was not making much headway after hitting one-year high above $76 a barrel. The benchmark December palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivative Exchange dropped 52 ringgit to a session low of 2,108 ringgit ($627.9), a level unseen since October 9, before settling at 2,110 ringgit.
"The spot month contract expires today and traders were unwinding positions. Exports are generally good but there is some talk that it could have been better, at least 13 percent higher," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said Malaysian palm oil exports for October 1-15 rose 12.6 percent to 596,515 tonnes from 529,980 tonnes shipped between September 1 and 15 that raised hopes for a strong rise. But the more closely watched Societe Generale de Surveillance reported just a 10 percent rise to 591,791 tonnes in the same period.
Traders said the figure was lower as one major vessel carrying out palm oil was not included in the data. Refiners have been stocking up refined palm olein, or cooking oil, in warehouses, waiting for the US dollar to strengthen, dealers say. Many refiners suffer foreign exchange losses when the ringgit gains as crude palm oil is bought in ringgit and its refined by-products are priced in the weaker US dollar.
US crude oil rose for the sixth straight session to near $76 a barrel on Thursday, touching its highest in a year but vegetable oil markets are easing off on profit-taking as prices may have gone up too fast. The most active May 2010 on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, which leads Asian vegetable oil markets in Asia, dropped 0.4 percent. US soyoil for December delivery lost 0.9 percent.
INDONESIA PALM TRADES: In Indonesia, the state marketing centre based in Jakarta did not sell any of 11,000 tonnes of palm oil offered in an auction due to low bids. Producers in Medan, home to Indonesia's main palm oil export port of Belawan, sold palm oil at 6,521-6,531 rupiah ($0.699) per kg against 6,535 rupiah a day earlier. Refiners in Jakarta offered refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, used as cooking oil, at 6,550-6,600 rupiah per kg against 6,500-6,550 rupiah a day ago.