KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 31): Malaysian palm oil futures closed lower on Monday partly in response to a fall in monthly export figures.
Benchmark palm oil futures for January on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were down 0.86% at RM2,764 (US$659.67) a tonne. Traded volume stood at 30,060 lots of 25 tonnes each.
A Kuala Lumpur-based trader said the futures contract fell due to the lower export figures as there was no real lead from the global vegoil markets.
"Market is tracking the numbers released, which were within trade expectation. There is some profit-taking as well, as market goes through some correction from the recent highs," he said.
The contract has seen three consecutive weekly gains up until last week.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for October 1-31 fell 6.4% to 1,288,894 tonnes from 1,377,757 tonnes during the Sept. 1-30 period, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday.
Another trader said trading was range bound as a weaker ringgit softened the impact of poorer export data.
"The first 20 days export figures had shown declining numbers, so October's exports were expected to be lower than the month before. Also, the weakness in ringgit had helped cushion any sell off," he said.
External markets such as the Dalian Commodity Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade impact the direction of palm oil futures as the oils compete for a share in the global edible oils market.
On the Dalian exchange, the January soybean oil contract was down up to 0.86% while the January contract for palm olein slid as much as 0.67%.
The Chicago Board of Trade's December soybean oil contract fell up to 0.7%.
Palm oil is biased to retest a resistance at RM2,822 per tonne, a break above which could lead to a gain to the next resistance at RM2,852, Reuters commodities and energy markets technical analyst Wang Tao said.
Support is at RM2,753, a break below which could cause a loss to RM2,729, he added.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1047 GMT
| Contract | Month | Last | Change | Low | High | Volume |
| MY PALM OIL | NOV6 | 2772 | -26.00 | 2772 | 2789 | 101 |
| MY PALM OIL | DEC6 | 2767 | -26.00 | 2760 | 2790 | 2184 |
| MY PALM OIL | JAN7 | 2764 | -25.00 | 2756 | 2787 | 19026 |
| CHINA PALM OLEIN | JAN7 | 5958 | +0.00 | 5918 | 6028 | 1032366 |
| CHINA SOYOIL | JAN7 | 6700 | -14.00 | 6656 | 6764 | 632136 |
| CBOT SOY OIL | DEC6 | 35.2 | +0.00 | 35.15 | 35.48 | 5345 |
| INDIA PALM OIL | NOV6 | 0.00 | +0.00 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
| INDIA SOYOIL | NOV6 | 0 | +0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NYMEX CRUDE | DEC6 | 48.41 | -0.29 | 48.17 | 48.74 | 76677 |
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in US 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 US dollars per barrel