KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 14): Malaysian palm oil futures saw its sharpest daily decline in six weeks on Monday, reversing earlier gains after the market turned bearish ahead of export data from cargo surveyors.
The data, due on Tuesday, is expected to show slowing growth in exports for the Jan 1-15 period, compared to Jan 1-10 when they surged by around 50%, said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
"It (preliminary data) suggests a slowdown in exports," she said.
The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 1.6% at 2,136 ringgit (US$521) a tonne, its lowest level since Jan 2.
Trading volumes totalled 39,215 lots of 25 tonnes each.
Malaysian palm oil exports rose by between 46%-52% between Jan 1-10, according to cargo surveyor data, supported by better demand from Europe.
Cargo surveyors are scheduled to release Jan 1-15 export data for Malaysia after 0300 GMT on Tuesday.
In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract edged down 0.4%, while the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.3%.
Meanwhile, the Dalian January palm oil contract dropped 6%.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1043 GMT:
| Contract | Month | Last | Change | Low | High | Volume |
| MY PALM OIL | JAN9 | 2100 | +7.00 | 2100 | 2100 | 592 |
| MY PALM OIL | FEB9 | 2093 | -30.00 | 2088 | 2134 | 1322 |
| MY PALM OIL | MAR9 | 2134 | -37.00 | 2134 | 2183 | 15575 |
| CHINA PALM OLEIN | JAN9 | 4116 | -262.00 | 4116 | 4400 | 98 |
| CHINA SOYOIL | JAN9 | 0 | +0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CBOT SOY OIL | JAN9 | 28.17 | +0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| INDIA PALM OIL | JAN9 | 543.00 | -2.70 | 542.40 | 549.8 | 679 |
| INDIA SOYOIL | JAN9 | 766.7 | +3.15 | 766.05 | 771.5 | 3840 |
| NYMEX CRUDE | FEB9 | 50.59 | -1.00 | 50.43 | 52.11 | 197564 |
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
(US$1 = 4.0970 ringgit)
(US$1 = 70.7520 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.7658 Chinese yuan)
