Malays-ian crude palm oil futures edged lower on Monday as expectations of a cyclical upturn in production offset a slight increase in exports, traders said. But losses were limited by Indonesia's plans to announce a flexible export for the crude palm oil dealers said.
The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 9 ringgit at 2,421 ringgit per tonne ($695), after touching an intra-day low of 2,391 ringgit.
"The rise in supply is a reality with players expecting the increase to be as much as 20 percent," said a leading trader. "Exports have been strong but it might not be enough to counter the supply glut."
"However, Indonesia's tax plans have been supportive for the market as there may be more focus on Malaysian palm oil, which does not have such taxes," another trader said.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products from August 1 to 25 rose 8.8 percent to 979,164 tonnes from 899,668 tonnes shipped between July 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday. Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports during the same period rose 2.7 percent to 961,807 tonnes.
Other traded months fell between 5 and 20 ringgit in overall trade of 8,427 lots of 25 tonnes each. Palm oil, used in products ranging from confectioneries and cosmetics to biofuel, is more than 12 percent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June.
Indonesia is considering introducing a flexible export tax for crude palm oil linked to international prices to prevent a jump in local cooking oil prices, a trade ministry official said on Friday. Malaysian palm oil futures are expected to trade between 2,300 and 2,400 ringgit per tonne by December, the head of industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Friday.
Asian vegetable oil demand has picked up from July as buyers from the Middle East to China lock in supplies for the festive season, especially for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Chinese mid-Autumn festival, both due in September.
But Malaysia's palm oil production in August will rise more than 11 percent from last month due to a seasonal upswing, after a slowdown during the first half of the year, a top industry analyst said.
November palm oil on Singapore's Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange was untraded by 1114 GMT. In the physical market, crude palm oil for August shipment in Malaysia's southern region was quoted at 2,520/2,525 ringgit a tonne. Deals were done between 2,500 and 2,530 ringgit.