Palm oil falls over 1% on exports, rival oils weakness

Business Recorder reported that Malaysian palm oil futures lost more than 1% on Thursday, giving back part of a rise that had taken prices to a 21-month peak. The December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 58 ringgit lower, or 1.16%, at 4,940 ringgit ($1,206.05) per metric ton. Earlier in the session it had reached its highest level since December 2024.

Market participants cited expectations of higher September stockpiles, slow shipments and weaker rival edible oils as drags. Paramalingam Supramaniam, a director at Pelindung Bestari, said weak September exports and end-month stocks that could climb to around 3 million tons were weighing on fundamentals. Surveyors' cargo estimates showed Malaysian palm product exports for September 1-15 down between 17.8% and 25.6% from a month earlier.

Palm also moved with rival oils. On Dalian, soyoil dropped 0.34% while its palm contract slid 1.06%, and soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 1.02%. Some support came from talk of possible Indian cuts to vegetable oil import duties and a possible rise in Indonesia's biodiesel blending requirement, while the ringgit's 0.33% fall against the dollar made palm cheaper for foreign buyers.