Palm Oil Retreats a Second Day as Exports From Malaysia Decline

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Bloomberg
Monday, 02 December 2013 19:46
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02 Dec 2013 18:11
(Dec. 2): Palm oil fell for a second day after surveyor estimates showed that
exports from Malaysia, the world’s second-biggest producer, declined in
November.
The contract for February delivery declined 0.5 percent to close at 2,642 ringgit
($822) a metric ton on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, paring gains to 8.4
percent this year.
Exports from Malaysia dropped 4.8 percent to 1.45 million tons last month from
1.52 million tons in October, surveyor Intertek said Nov. 30. Shipments
retreated 4.9 percent, according to SGS (Malaysia) Sdn. That would be the first
monthly decline in shipments since May, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil
Board shows. Demand usually slows during the Northern Hemisphere winter as
the tropical oil clouds in cooler temperatures.
“This is a lean season and demand normally slows down,” said Vijay Mehta,
director of Commodity Links Pte in Singapore. “Some buying interest should
pick up from China, somewhere toward the end of December and January,
ahead of the Lunar New Year festival.”
China, the world’s largest palm oil importer after India, celebrates the Lunar
New Year festival at the end of January.
Refined palm oil for May delivery fell 1 percent to close at 6,304 yuan ($1,035)
a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. Soybean oil lost 0.2 percent to 7,316
yuan.
Soybean oil for January delivery gained 0.5 percent to 40.67 cents a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybeans climbed 0.6
percent to $13.4425 a bushel.