Malaysian palm oil futures slip

Malaysian palm oil futures fell to the lowest close in more than three months on Friday as concerns over the outlook for Europe's economies rattled the market despite a weaker ringgit, traders said. The benchmark July crude palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.61 percent, or 15 ringgit, to 2,457 ringgit ($783.7) a tonne - the lowest close since February 2.
Other contracts fell between 0.61 percent to 0.73 percent, except May delivery which gained 0.04 percent. "The market is taking cues from equities and crude oil, we saw a bit of short-covering in early trade, but speculative interests still dominated," said one Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
Some market players expect prices to edge lower next week as intensified worries about the euro debt crisis may push a lot of selling in the palm oil market. Overall volume traded stood at 12,605 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with the average daily volume of 10,000 lots.
"The cash market is well supported, with a lack of planters selling, while nobody wants to sell huge ahead of the 15-days export figures," another Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, referring to export data from cargo surveyors to be released on May 15 and May 17.
In the physical market, crude palm oil for May delivery was traded at 2,520 ringgit a tonne in the southern and central region. Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance unveil May 1-15 Malaysian palm oil export data on May 15 and May 17 respectively.
In Indonesia, Jakarta-based PT KPB Nusantara, formerly known as the state marketing centre, sold all 5,500 tonnes of palm oil with a top price at 7,446 rupiah ($0.68) per kg against 7,479 rupiah on Wednesday. All markets were closed on Thursday for a religious holiday.
Producers in Medan, home to Indonesia's main palm oil export port of Belawan, did not hold any auctions on Friday. Refiners in Jakarta offered refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, used for cooking oil, sold at 7,750 rupiah per kg, unchanged from Wednesday. PT Astra Agro Lestari did not offer palm kernel oil on Friday.