Malaysian palm oil futures were down 1 percent at the close of trading on Friday, following data that showed exports from the world's second-biggest producer of the edible oil fell 8.8 percent in January. The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell to 2,469 ringgit ($635.97) per tonne - the lowest close in nearly two weeks.
Palm was down 0.6 percent on the week. Trading volumes stood at 25,573 lots of 25 tonnes each. "It looks like the market is reacting to weaker exports," said David Ng of Phillip Futures in Kuala Lumpur. He added that a strengthening ringgit had also been weighing down on prices. The ringgit has gained about 3.5 percent in January. A stronger ringgit, palm's currency of trade, makes the oil more expensive for foreign buyers and curbs demand.
Malaysia's palm oil exports in January fell 8.8 percent to 1,312,679 tonnes - the biggest monthly decline in almost a year - data from cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed on Thursday. In other related oils, the March soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.67 percent.
The May soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 1.37 percent, while the Dalian May palm oil contract was down nearly 1 percent. Palm oil prices track the performance of other edible oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.