Malaysian palm oil futures slid on Tuesday, logging a fourth consecutive session of declines, as lacklustre export data and softer soyaoil prices kept a lid on sentiment. The benchmark palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.9% at 1,980 ringgit ($477.80) per tonne at the close, hitting a two-week low.
"Underlying sentiment is weak, there is enough oil for buyers hence they are not pushing up prices. So poor exports data are driving prices down without decent market support," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1-25 fell 15.3% and 17.8% on-month, cargo surveyors Societe Generale de Surveillance and Intertek Testing Services said respectively on Tuesday.
Independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said the exports fell 14% on-month for the same period. The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soyaoil futures last dropped 0.3% in a third session of declines, but China's Dalian soyabean oil prices rose 0.1%. Palm oil was up earlier in the session, lifted by an overnight rally in CBOT soyaoil prices. Palm oil prices are affected by movements in related edible oils, with which it competes for global market share.
Palm oil may fall to 1,971 ringgit per tonne, as it has pierced below a support at 2,001 ringgit, Wang Tao, a Reuters analyst for commodities technicals said. In the third quarter of the year, Tao said palm oil may break a support at 1,933 ringgit per tonne and fall towards the next support at 1,634 ringgit.