Palm slips as weak Chicago soyoil, sluggish demand weigh
The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid RM41, or 0.96 per cent, to RM4,249 (US$1,005.68) a metric ton at the midday break. The contract rose 2.46 per cent on Tuesday.
Crude palm oil futures traded lower as it was pressured by overnight weakness in Chicago soyoil futures, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oil broker Sunvin Group.
"Destination demand also remains fragmented at the moment, which could result in further downward pressure on palm oil prices going forward," Bagani added.
However, a bullish momentum in Dalian soyoil and rapeseed oil helped offset some bearish sentiments, thus preventing a larger decline, he added.
The MPOB is expected to release its July supply-and-demand data on Aug 11.
Dalian's most-active soyoil contract rose 1.4 per cent, while its palm oil contract added 0.4 per cent. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.09 per cent.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
Oil prices climbed, rebounding from a five-week low hit on the previous day, on concerns of supply disruptions after US President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs on India over its Russian crude purchases.
Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, remained unchanged against the US dollar.
European Union's soybean imports for the 2025/26 season that began in July had reached 0.97 million metric tons by Aug 3, down 26 per cent from the same period a year earlier, European Commission data showed. Palm oil imports were at 0.16 million tons, down 56 per cent.
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