Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market was offered a little lower on Thursday, tracking Malaysian palm oil futures, which dipped on disappointing exports during February, though stocks that month fell around six percent. "The exports worried many players and a strong ringgit pushed futures down even further. March 1-10 exports could boost optimism as they were some 50 percent up from the same period a month ago," one broker said.
Palm oil was mostly offered between unchanged and $7.50 a tonne down after Malaysian palm oil futures closed between seven and 19 ringgit per tonne lower due to sluggish export demand and a stronger ringgit, which makes palm oil more expensive for foreign buyers and could dampen export demand. At 1730 GMT, CBOT soyaoil futures were between 0.05 and 0.14 cents per lb lower in a profit-taking setback following recent gains. Additional pressure came from rising estimates of South American crops, and the USDA raising its forecast of the US 2015/16 soyabean carry-out by 10 million bushels, to 460 million. Weaker energy markets also weighed.
Liquid oils - EU rapeoil, soyaoil and sunoil - were mostly offered between unchanged and three euros a tonne down from Wednesday, following the trend in CBOT soyaoil. Weaker rapeseed futures and a lower dollar also pressured prices. Lauric oils rallied on the expectations of tight copra supplies and a dip in the dollar, which supports products prices in that currency. A stronger ringgit underpinned palmkernel oil. Asking prices were between unchanged and $15 a tonne higher.