Palm oil is flat as crude and rival oils weaken.

Malaysian palm futures were mostly unchanged on Monday after dropping to 4,438 Ringgit in the early trade due to easing oil prices.

By?the midday break, the benchmark palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange remained flat at 4,475 Ringgit ($1,106.03).

Anilkumar bagani, the head of research for Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, said, "The futures traded sideways today after opening lower due to a drop in energy prices, Chicago soybean oil and Chinese vegetable oils futures during today's Asian hour."

Dalian's soyoil contract with the highest volume fell by 0.44% while palm oil contracts dropped by 1.51%. Prices of soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade fell by 0.97%.

Palm oil follows the price movement of competing edible oils as it competes to gain a share of the global vegetable oil market.

Oil prices dropped to their lowest level since March after U.S. president Donald?Trump, Iran's deputy minister of foreign affairs and the two parties announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement to end the conflict and resume traffic through Strait?of Hormuz.

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

The palm ringgit's currency of trade has strengthened by 0.25% compared to the dollar, making it slightly more expensive for foreign currency buyers.

A circular posted on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's website on Monday showed that Malaysia had lowered the crude palm oil price reference for July to a level which maintains the 10% export duty.

India's imports of palm oil increased in May after recovering from a low point four months earlier, but they remained below the normal level as refiners purchased more soyoil, which was cheaper, when palm oil's advantage diminished, according to a leading industry group.

Wang Tao, a technical analyst, says that palm oil could break support at 4,444 Ringgit per metric tonne, following a?weak bounce towards 4,496 Ringgit.

1 Please enter the freight rate from Peninsula Malaysia/Sumatra, and then press Enter. Or, double-click between the brackets to view rates for China, India, Pakistan, and Rotterdam. Double-clicking on the codes in brackets will allow terminal users to view edible oil prices for cash and futures. To move to the next page, press F12. To go back, hit F11. 1

(source: Reuters)