Palm falls for the third consecutive day due to weaker competitors and selling pressure

Malaysian palm futures fell for the third session in a row on Thursday. This was due to the weakness of prices in rival vegetable oils listed in Dalian and pressure from sellers in crude palm (CPO).

By midday, the benchmark contract for palm oil on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives exchange was down by 82 ringgit (1.64%) to 4,905 Ringgit ($1,093.40).

Paramalingam Supramaniam of Selangor brokerage Pelindung Bestari said that the CPO market is suffering from the constant selling pressure. This has generated buying interest in local olein, and kept offers high. Dalian's palm oil contract and its most active soyoil contract both fell by 0.8%. Chicago Board of Trade soyoil prices were up by 0.49%.

As palm oil competes to gain a share of the global vegetable oil market, it tracks the price movements in rival edible oils.

The Solvent Extractors' Association of India reported that India's imports of palm oil in October increased 60% from September, to 845.682 tons, on the back of festive demand, and refiners' purchases to replenish stocks that were depleted recently by lower than usual imports.

Indonesia's government has reaffirmed its plan to introduce a mandatory 40% biodiesel blend with palm oil-based gasoline, also known as B40 in January 2025 as part of a new administration's quick wins programmes. Surveyors AmSpec Agri Malaysia (ITS) and Intertek Testing Services(ITS) estimate that exports of Malaysian products containing palm oil fell between 14.6% to 15.8% in the period Nov. 1-10, compared to the same period a year ago.

Oil prices

Slip

Early trade on Thursday saw the dollar strengthen, which exacerbated the declines. Worries about higher global production and slowing demand growth weighed heavily.

Palm oil is less appealing as a biodiesel feedstock due to the weaker crude oil futures.

According to Wang Tao, a technical analyst, palm oil could test support at 4,795 Ringgit per metric tonnes, with a high probability of breaking below that level and falling toward 4,655 Ringgit.

(source: Reuters)