Malaysian palm oil edged up on Friday evening for its first gain in four sessions on the back of falling production outlook, after earlier hitting its lowest level since August last year on rising global vegetable oil supplies and weak demand. The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.1 percent to 2,451 ringgit ($601.18) a tonne at the end of the trading day.
Earlier in the day, the market dropped to 2,417 ringgit a tonne, the weakest since August 2016. "The market edged up on expectations of lower production," said a Kuala Lumpur based trader, referring to the output outlook for the full month of December.
"The market is also tracking gains in the soyabean oil market." For the week, palm oil however has lost 2.7 percent, its seventh weekly loss in eight. In other related edible oils, the most-active soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.1 percent, while China's Dalian soyaoil fell 1.9 percent.
The Dalian palm olein contract lost 0.4 percent. Chicago soyabean futures on Friday fell for a seventh session, hitting a three-month low as improved weather across Brazil and Argentina boosted expectations for another bumper harvest in South America.