Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower in thin trade on Monday, dragged down by lower prices of rival soyaoil. "Soyaoil had a bearish impact on the market," said one dealer. "The November contract broke the important support level of 1,580 ringgit," said one trader.
The benchmark third-month November crude palm oil contract on the Bursar Malaysia Derivatives market ended down 18 ringgit at 1,572 ringgit ($430) a tonne. Other traded months fell between 19 and 26 ringgit. Volumes stood at 6,509 lots of 25 tonnes each, down from 11,186 lots traded on Friday.
Dealers said the market was awaiting August output and industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board releases stock data due to next week. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in August stood at 1,339,032 tonnes, up 9.3 percent from the 1,225,495 tonnes shipped in July, cargo surveyor Interlake Testing Services said.
Another cargo surveyor, Society General de Surveillance, said exports during the month stood at 1,367,456 tonnes, up 12.8 percent from the 1,211,764 tonnes shipped in July.
On Friday, Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures ended lower, with prices still weighed down by prospects for a big US soyabean crop and abundant stocks, traders said.
CBOT agricultural markets are closed on Monday for the US Labour Day holiday. In the physical crude palm oil market, sellers were quoting 1,560 ringgit a tonne for September shipment and buyers 1,555 ringgit. Trades were done between 1,550 and 1,565 ringgit.