Palm declines on higher than forecast stocks data

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Wednesday evening weighed down by higher than forecast inventory levels in June according to a data release from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.3% at 1,937 ringgit ($468.21) per tonne at the close of trade, a third straight session of declines.

"Stocks came in higher than polled," said a Kuala Lumpur based trader, referring to the MPOB data. "I was expecting stocks to be lower."

Industry regulator the MPOB released official data for the month of June which showed that inventory levels came in higher than forecast.

Malaysian stockpiles at end-June eased 0.97% on-month to 2.42 million tonne, versus a Reuters survey which forecast a 4% decline to 2.35 million tonnes.

The MPOB also reported that output in June fell 9.2% month-on-month to 1.52 million tonnes, while exports dropped 19.4% from May to 1.38 million tonnes last month.

In other related oils, US soyoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.6%, while the September soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.2%.

The Dalian September palm oil contract was also down 0.5%.

Palm oil prices are impacted by movements in related oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.