Malaysian palm oil futures fell for a fourth consecutive session on Monday evening, weighed down by weaker soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and expectations of rising stockpiles. Public holidays in China and India, the top two buyers of the tropical oil, also kept trade subdued. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 1.1 percent at 2,666 ringgit ($629.96) a tonne at the close of trade.
Palm earlier fell to a daily low of 2,655 ringgit, its weakest since August 18. Traded volumes stood at 38,588 lots of 25 tonnes each on Monday evening. "It looks like palm fell tracking the soyabean oil market," said a Kuala Lumpur based futures trader. "Expectations of higher stockpiles also weighed on the market." Malaysian palm oil inventories rose to 1.9 million tonnes at the end of August, their highest since February 2016.
Traders say production in September is expected to rise from the month before, in line with the seasonal trend, and could contribute to rising end-stocks.
A second trader earlier said palm prices could decline "mirroring listless movement in rival oilseeds."
Palm oil prices are affected by the performance of related edible oils such as soya, as they compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market. The December soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.6 percent. China's Dalian Commodity Exchange is closed for a national public holiday. Palm oil may break a support at 2,694 ringgit per tonne and fall more to the next support at 2,651 ringgit, according to Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.