Indian soyaoil futures fell on Monday on lower demand in the physical market due to high prices and weak rival Malaysian palm oil futures. At 3:15 pm (0945 GMT), the February contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was down 0.7 percent at 587.1 rupees ($14.9) per 10 kg.
The March contract had lost 0.76 percent to 591.20 rupees. "Traders are not ready to buy (refined soyaoil) at such high prices, they want it to come down by at least 2,000 rupees per tonne," said a leading trader based in the central Indian city of Indore, a major soyabean and soyaoil trading hub. Refined soyaoil prices in Indore fell 0.5 percent to 56,200 rupees per tonne.
"Weak Malaysian palm oil also impacted the futures," said an analyst with Motilal Oswaal Commodities Broker Pvt Ltd. In Malaysia, the April palm contract fell 2 percent to 3,249 ringgit per tonne, as a further weakening of export numbers announced by a cargo surveyor weighed on prices.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for January 1-20 fell 40.02 percent to 567,583 tonnes from 946,210 tonnes shipped between December 1 and 20, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday. Soyaoil and palm oil are related commodities and their prices often move in tandem.