Palm VEGOILS ends third consecutive weekly loss
Malaysian palm oils futures dropped on Friday, posting their third consecutive weekly loss. This was due to weakness in vegetable oils traded at the Chicago and Dalian commodities exchanges.
The benchmark contract for palm oil delivery in August on the Bursa Derivatives exchange lost 44 ringgit (1.14%) to $3,812 ringgit ($888.16).
The contract dropped 0.05% in the last week, the lowest loss for a weekly since September.
Dalian's soyoil contract with the highest volume fell by 1.1% while palm oil contracts for June delivery declined by 1.48%. Prices of soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped by 2.37%.
As palm oil competes to gain a share in the global vegetable oil market, it tracks the prices of competing edible oils.
According to AmSpec Agri Malaysia, an independent inspection company and cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services, the exports of Malaysian products containing palm oil rose between 6.6% - 14.2% from May 1 – 15.
GAPKI (Indonesia Palm Oil Association) urged the Indonesian government on Friday to delay the planned increase in the palm oil export levies, warning that it could hurt competitiveness amid global uncertainty due to U.S. Tariffs and geopolitical conflict.
Oil prices continued to decline on Friday due to increased supply pressure caused by an OPEC+ production hike and the prospect for an Iranian nuclear agreement. However, they are headed for a second weekly gain because of easing U.S. China trade tensions.
Palm oil is less appealing as a biodiesel feedstock due to the weaker crude oil futures.
(source: Reuters)
