Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower on Wednesday, weighed down by recent strength in the ringgit, although losses were limited after a report showed stocks dropped to their lowest in seven months as exports outpaced weak output growth. The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 1 percent to close at 2,370 ringgit ($783) per tonne - also the low for the day. Prices touched a high of 2,419 ringgit on Tuesday, a level last seen on March 28.
Total traded volumes stood at 34,101 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly lower than the average 35,000 lots seen so far this year. Technicals showed palm oil is biased to drop to 2,350 ringgit per tonne, as it did not break a resistance at 2,420 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1 to 10 inched up 3.5 percent to 456,440 tonnes, compared with 441,025 tonnes shipped during the same period last month, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Wednesday. Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, is expected to release its export data later in the day. Palm oil stocks are now closer to the psychological 2-million-tonne level. Leading analyst Dorab Mistry has forecast prices could rise to 2,400 to 2,700 ringgit by the end of May as stockpiles fall below that level. In vegetable oil markets, US soyaoil for May delivery edged 0.1 percent lower in late Asian trade. The most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange closed 0.3 percent higher.