Malaysian palm oil futures had their weakest intraday performance in one week, snapping two straight sessions of gains, as a stronger ringgit and concerns over rising production weighed on the market. The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 1.7 percent to 2,486 ringgit ($569.01) a tonne at the midday break, its biggest fall since April 17.
Traded volumes stood at 49,303 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. The market was closed for a public holiday on Monday. Weaker rival oils also weighed on sentiment, as prices tracked the performance of related edible oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
"The market is down on ringgit strength and weakness in external commodities," said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader. The ringgit, the currency in which palm oil is traded, strengthened against the dollar on Tuesday, and was last up 0.7 percent at 4.3690 per dollar. A stronger ringgit makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies.
Cargo surveyor data also showed weaker exports during April 1-25, despite the approach of Ramadan, a holy month of day-long fasting and feasting for Muslims across the world that begins at the end of May and spurs higher palm oil demand for cooking. Intertek Testing Services said on Tuesday that shipments from Malaysia fell 3.4 percent from the corresponding period of the previous month, while Societe Generale de Surveillance reported a 1.2 percent drop.
Palm oil faces resistance at 2,542 ringgit, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. In related vegetable oils, soyabean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade slipped by up to 0.6 percent, while the September soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.7 percent. The September contract for palm olein dropped 2 percent.
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