JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures closed down for a second session in a row on Wednesday, dragged down by the heavy losses in prices of rival vegetable oils in Dalian.
The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 42 ringgit, or 0.84%, to 4,984 ringgit ($1,121.01) a metric ton on the closing.
“Prices have sharply declined below the 5,000 ringgit level, exacerbated by weakness in the Chinese-related vegetable oils market. This suggests a consolidation following the recent bull run from Sept. 18 to Nov. 11,” said Darren Lim, commodities strategist at Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Nova.
Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract plunged 5.17%, while its palm oil contract tumbled 4.45%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.5%.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm falls weighed by rival vegetable oils
Indonesia’s government reaffirmed to lawmakers on Wednesday a plan to implement a 40% mandatory biodiesel mix with palm oil-based fuel, known as B40, in January 2025, as part of the new government’s “quick wins” programmes.
India’s palm oil imports in October rose 60% from September to 845,682 metric tons, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said on Wednesday.
Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (BMD) is planning to launch its new used cooking oil futures contract as early as December, the director of the Malaysian bourse said on Wednesday.
Chicago soybean futures took a sharp dive on Tuesday as traders worried that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would take a less-than-friendly view of the biofuel industry, analysts said.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in the Nov. 1-10 period are estimated to have dropped between 14.6% and 15.8% from the same period a month ago, according to surveyors AmSpec Agri Malaysia and Intertek Testing Services (ITS).
Oil prices edged up on the day on signs of near-term supply tightness but remained near their lowest in two weeks, a day after OPEC downgraded its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025.
Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
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