weeks, as Europe’s debt crisis curbed investors’ risk appetite and on
concern that the recent drop in crude oil prices may reduce demand for
biodiesel.
July-delivery palm oil fell as much as 1.6 per cent to
RM2,484
a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange and
traded at 2,499 at the 12.30 pm trading break. The contract has dropped
2.3 per cent this week.
US stocks yesterday tumbled the most in a
year, briefly erasing US$1 trillion in market value, and the
Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities slumped to a three-month
low on concern that Europe’s debt crisis will spread.
Crude oil
gained 0.5 per cent to US$77.49 a barrel after plunging 10 per cent this
week through yesterday, poised for the biggest weekly loss since July
2009.
“There’s that concern in Europe” that’s weighing on all commodities
including palm oil, Amol Tilak, an analyst at Mumbai-based Kotak
Commodity Services Ltd, said by phone today.
Crude oil’s decline
to US$77 “eroded the appeal of palm oil as an alternative fuel. Demand
has taken a beating,” he said.
Sime Darby Bhd, the world’s
biggest palm oil producer, fell for a fourth straight day, taking this
week’s losses to 2.4 per cent, the biggest such drop since January 29.
IOI Corp., Malaysia’s second-biggest producer, also declined. –
Bloomberg
Source : Business Times
