Malaysian palm oil futures were little changed on Wednesday, with early gains erased on lack of demand, but the weakening ringgit currency against US dollar limited losses. By midday, the benchmark July palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives inched down 0.04 percent, or 1 ringgit, to 2,504 ringgit ($808) a tonne, after moving as high as 2,516 ringgit.
Overall volume traded was 1,881 lots of 25 tonnes each, well below the average midday volume of 5,000 lots. "Refiners are not in the buying mode, product market is trading lower as of yesterday, so there's no reason for them to chase (crude) palm oil today," said a trader in Kuala Lumpur.
The market also noted that China, the world's largest soya buyer, is likely to import a record 5.8-6 million tonnes of soyabeans in June. In the Malaysian physical market, palm oil for May and June delivery were quoted at 2,535 ringgit to 2,545 ringgit per tonne in the southern and central region. No deals were reported by midday. On Tuesday, the May delivery was traded at 2,540 ringgit in the southern and central region.
Other vegetable oils markets: US soyoil for July delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade firmed at Asian trade and the most-active January soybean oil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.52 percent. Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance unveil May 1-15 Malaysian palm oil export data on May 15 and May 17 respectively.