Palm oil fell for a third day after a drop in exports from Malaysia, the
world’s second-largest producer, and as some investors sold the
commodity to lock in gains ahead of the Christmas and New Year break.
The
February-delivery contract dropped as much as 1.1 per cent to RM3,627
(US$1,155) a metric ton and traded at 3,630 ringgit at 11:23 a.m. in
Kuala Lumpur. The contract had reached 3,766 ringgit on Dec 14, the
highest level in 33 months.
Malaysian exports fell 24 per cent in
the first 15 days of December, surveyor Intertek said yesterday.
Shipments slumped 29.5 per cent in the same period, according to an
estimate from rival Societe Generale de Surveillance.
“There is a
lack of supportive fundamental news,” Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at
Phillip Futures Pte, said in an e-mail today. “Investors always tend to
stay away from the market with the holidays ahead.”
Palm oil has surged 37 per cent this year, headed for a second annual
advance, on speculation that rising demand from China and India may
strain global supplies that have been curbed by rain and drought in
producing nations.
Output in Malaysia fell to the lowest level in
five months in November, while stockpiles slid for the first time in
four months. Heavy rainfall caused by a La Nina weather event has also
reduced oil-palm yields in Indonesia, the biggest grower.
Malaysian
production declined 11 percent to 1.46 million tons last month from
1.64 million tons in October, according to data from the nation’s palm
oil board. Inventory dropped 8.7 percent to 1.64 million tons from 1.79
million tons.
India, the second-biggest cooking-oil consumer,
imported 668,917 tons of vegetable oils last month, 11 percent less than
a year earlier, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India said on
Dec 13. – Bernama
Source : Business Times
