Palm extends losses tracking weaker rival oils

Malaysian palm oil futures closed down fora second straight sessionon Tuesday as weakness in Dalian Commodity Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rival oils weighed on the market.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 85 ringgit, or 2.13%,to 3,901 ringgit ($837.12) permetric ton on its closing.

“Bursa Malaysia crude palm oil futures prices opened lower, tracking weakness in the competing vegetable oils,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.

Dalian’s most active soyoil contract DBYcv1 slid0.85%,while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 fell 1.41%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOc2 were down 1.22%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Malaysia’s palm oil inventories at the end of August likely jumped to a six-month high at 1.89 million metric tons, as output rose and exports slowed, a Reuters survey showed on Tuesday .

India’s edible oil imports in August rose 5% to a record 1.85 million metric tons as refiners purchased more than 1 million tons of palm oil for the second consecutive month to build stocks for upcoming festivals.

Palm oil looks neutral in a range of 3,944 ringgit to 3,984 ringgit per metric ton, and an escape could suggest a direction, according to Reuters analyst Wang Tao.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati and Bernadette Christina; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Janane Venkatraman)