Palm edges lower on lacklustre Malaysian export data

Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a second day on Monday, as a modest rise in Malaysian palm oil export figures in the first half of December and weakness in the ringgit were offset by weakness in crude oil prices. The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.14 percent lower at 2,163 ringgit ($619) per tonne, the contract's second day of declines after it slipped 1.1 percent on Friday.
-- Exports up 2.9 pct in first two weeks of December - Intertek
-- Ringgit down 4 pct in Dec
Total traded volume stood at 41,447 lots of 25 tonnes, above the daily average of 35,000 lots traded. "The numbers are not exciting," a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur told Reuters, referring to Malaysian export data released on Monday. Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported exports of Malaysian palm oil products for December 1-15 rose 2.9 percent to 615,805 tonnes from 598,269 tonnes shipped during November 1-15.
Later figures from cargo exporter Societe Generale de Surveillance showed exports of Malaysian palm oil products for December 1-15 rose 2.1 percent to 618,134 tonnes from 605,624 tonnes shipped during November 1-15. "There should be (a) higher improvement given the weakness of the ringgit," another trader told Reuters, adding he had expected December exports to be higher.
The Malaysian ringgit has dropped more than 4 percent in December and was trading at 3.495 on Monday afternoon. A weaker rinngit makes Malaysian palm oil cheaper for overseas buyers. "The market's trading in a tight range," the second trader said. Technicals showed palm oil is expected to consolidate in a range of 2,165-2,194 ringgit per tonne for one trading session before seeking its next direction, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Thailand's PTT PCL on Monday said it would sell its palm oil business in Indonesia by June next year, as the top Thai energy company moves to divest non-core operations. In other markets, Brent crude hit a fresh five-year low close to $60 a barrel on Monday after oil producer group Opec restated its determination not to cut output despite a global fuel glut, but the North Sea benchmark later rallied to trade around $63. In competing vegetable oil markets, the US soyoil contract for January edged down 0.12 percent in early Asian trade, while the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slipped 0.11 percent.