Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market eased on Thursday, tracking weaker Malaysian palm oil futures on the back of profit-taking following recent gains and due to a stronger ringgit. A rise in the ringgit makes Malaysian palm oil more expensive for foreign buyers, which could dampen export demand.
Asking prices for palm oil were between unchanged and $5 a tonne lower after Malaysian palm oil futures closed between 15 and 26 ringgit per tonne down. "The substantial dip in palm oil futures could have caused a bigger loss on the cash market, but both a weak dollar and a firm ringgit were supportive," one broker said.
At 1830 GMT, CBOT soyaoil futures were between 0.35 and 0.51 cents per lb down on follow-through selling after a weak close on Wednesday. Additional pressure came from some expectations for beneficial rains in dry soyabean growing areas of Argentina. EU rapeoil was quoted between three and eight euros per tonne lower, tracking easier CBOT soyaoil and pressured by the weak dollar, which weighs on euro-priced products. Technical weakness in rapeseed futures also weighed.
Lauric oils were offered between flat and $10 a tonne up from Wednesday on the back of the weaker dollar, which underpins products priced in the currency.