Palmettos fall on profit booking and weak demand.

Malaysian palm futures declined on Friday, posting a marginal loss for the week, as traders booked their profits before a long weekend. A stronger ringgit, and weak demand, weighed on sentiment.

The benchmark palm-oil contract for November delivery at the Bursa Malaysia derivatives exchange lost 9 Malaysian Ringgit or 0.2% to 4,445 Malaysian Ringgit ($1,058.33), at closing.

The contract is down by 0.07% this week.

Anilkumar bagani, head of commodity research at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, said that the stronger Ringgit, and lack of new destination demand (primarily India), has led to a downward pressure on prices.

Indonesia could raise the

Mandatory palm oil

Local media quoted Bahlil lahadalia, the energy minister of Bahrain, as saying that the country will first increase its biodiesel content to 45% (B45), before moving to B50.

State firm Indonesia received 674,178 acres (1.7 million acres), or palm oil plantations in Indonesia.

Agrinas Palma Nusantara

The total land area given to the company increased to 1.5 million hectares (3,7 million acres) on Friday.

One Kuala Lumpur based trader stated that the futures are cashing in on the recent rally due to Dalian's softening, the weak Malaysian Palm Oil Board data, the export slowdown, and the coming long holidays.

The market

Closed

On September 15-16, there will be a public holiday.

The MPOB reported that Malaysian palm oils stocks reached a 20-month-high at the end of August. Meanwhile, exports fell between 1.2% to 8.4% compared with the same period last month, according to cargo surveyor earlier this week.

Dalian's palm oil and soyoil contracts that were most active last week gained 0.36% each. Chicago Board of Trade Soyoil Prices grew by 0.25%.

As palm oil competes to gain a share in the global vegetable oils industry, it tracks the price fluctuations of competing edible oils.

Palm's trade currency, the ringgit, has strengthened by 0.45% against the US dollar, increasing the price of the commodity for buyers with foreign currencies.

Technical analyst Wang Tao stated that palm oil could extend gains up to 4,506 Ringgit per metric tonne, as a pattern of flattening might be developing.

(source: Reuters)