Palm oil prices remain stable as ringgit and rival oil are firmer.

Malaysian palm futures were little altered on Wednesday, ahead of the Christmas holidays. A strong ringgit offset higher soyoil prices and crude oil.

At the midday break, the benchmark palm oil contract on the Bursa Derivatives exchange for delivery in?March? fell 3 ringgit or 0.07% to 4,033 Ringgit ($994.57) per metric ton. The contract has risen 3.35% over the last two sessions.

A trader based in Kuala Lumpur said that the palm oil market had a marginally lower price due to a stronger Ringgit.

The trader stated that "the ringgit firmed up to around 4.0455, its highest level since March 5, 2021."

Palm's trade currency, the ringgit, rose 0.12% in value against the dollar. This made it more expensive for foreign buyers. Dalian's palm oil contract added 0.69%, while the most active soyoil contract increased by 0.18%. Chicago Board of Trade soyoil prices were up 0.29%.

As it competes to gain a share in the global vegetable oil market, palm oil follows?price movement of rival edible oils. Oil prices rose modestly, continuing gains from the previous session. This was supported by the robust economic growth in the U.S. and the threat of disruptions to supply from Venezuela and Russia.

Palm oil is a better option as a biodiesel source because crude oil futures are stronger. Data from the European Commission showed that soybean imports in the EU for 2025/26, which began in July, had fallen by 14% to 6 million metric tonnes on December 21. Palm oil imports, however, fell 9%, down to 1.45 millions tons. Indonesia has signed a decree allocating 15.65 million kilograms of palm-based biodiesel to its fuel blend mandate in 2026. An official from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry confirmed this. Technical analyst Wang Tao believes that palm oil could retrace to a range between 3,931 and 3,961 ringgit a ton after failing to break through resistance at 4,042 ringsgit.

(source: Reuters)