Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Wednesday because of profit-taking and sluggish demand for palm products. "The market was holding firm after good export numbers yesterday but today there was some selling, which is mainly due to profit-taking," one dealer said.
The benchmark third-month October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed down 11 ringgit at 1,565 ringgit ($425) a tonne. Other contracts fell between seven and 12 ringgit a tonne. Overall volumes stood at 12,453 lots of 25 tonnes each.
Exports of Malaysian palm products for July 1-25 stood at 968,714 tonnes, up 7.4 percent from the 901,923 tonnes shipped between June 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said. Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports of palm products for July 1-25 rose 12.4 percent from 849,560 tonnes shipped during the same period in June.
"Product demand is a bit slow, which I think is just a temporary situation," another dealer said. "It will pick up soon as this is the buying season."
In the physical market, crude palm oil for August shipment saw sellers at 1,530 ringgit a tonne and bids at 1,525 ringgit a tonne. Trades were done at around 1,520 ringgit a tonne.