Indonesian palm oil prices fell on Wednesday, dragged down by an easing Malaysian market, dealers said. In North Sumatra's Medan, home to Belawan port - the key port for palm oil exports - crude palm oil was traded at 10,200 rupiah ($1.10) a kg, down from 10,255-10,330 rupiah a kg on Tuesday.
"Malaysia went down a lot today. That made sellers reluctant to sell their oils," said a crude palm oil dealer. "But it's also difficult for buyers because they are afraid prices may drop again." In Jakarta, the state marketing centre failed to sell 14,000 tonnes of crude palm oil it offered in auctions due to low bids.
Malaysian crude palm oil futures slipped on Wednesday as weakening crude oil prices and lack of demand weighed on the market. The benchmark August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 143 ringgit to 3,587 ringgit a tonne on the day.
In Jakarta, refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein, used as cooking oil was offered at 10,200 rupiah a kg, falling from 10,500 rupiah a kg on Tuesday on slow demand. "Buyers did not buy much cooking oil unless they really ran out of supplies," said a dealer in a refinery in Jakarta. There was no price quotation available on the export front as the falling Malaysian market sapped trading interest, the Medan dealer said.