Malaysian palm oil drops, rivals follow suit

The price of Malaysian palm oils futures fell for a third consecutive session on Tuesday. This was in line with the declines in rival vegetable oil markets such as Dalian and Chicago, while investors waited to see export data.

By midday, the benchmark palm oil contract on the Bursa Derivatives Exchange for June delivery had fallen 29 ringgit or 0.67% to 4,276 Ringgit ($963.71) per metric ton.

Anilkumar bagani, head of commodity research at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group vegetable oils brokerage, said: "The sentiments in palm oil are bearish right now because it has been forced by the absence of destination purchasing to reduce its premium over soy oil."

According to Amspec Agri Malaysia, the company that inspects palm oil in Malaysia, exports of palm oil for the period March 1-25 are expected to fall by 8.47% on a monthly basis.

The palm oil contract at the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell by 1.64%, while soyoil prices dropped 0.76%. The Chicago Board of Trade's (CBOT) soyoil price fell 0.54%.

As palm oil competes to gain a share in the global vegetable oils industry, it tracks the price changes of competing edible oils.

(source: Reuters)