Palm extends losses as weaker Chicago soyoil weighs

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses for a second session on Wednesday, pressured by weaker Chicago soyoil, though firmer crude oil prices capped the losses.

The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid RM21, or 0.46 per cent, to RM4,539 (US$1,111.14) a metric ton in early trade.

Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.26 per cent. The Dalian Commodity Exchange is closed for a public holiday and will reopen on Thursday.

Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Oil prices rose as the market weighed supply constraints from a storm heading for US oil-producing regions and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia against increased supplies of Middle East crude.

Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.07 per cent against the dollar, making the commodity slightly cheaper for buyers holding foreign currencies.

European Union soybean imports for the 2026/27 season, which began in July, reached 3.06 million metric tons by October 4, down 9 per cent from the same period a year earlier, while palm oil imports were down 18 per cent to 0.71 million tons, European Commission data showed.

Indonesia's forestry task force handed over nearly 260,000 hectares (642,474 acres) of seized land to the country's forestry ministry, with more than half to be transferred to Agrinas Palma Nusantara, the state-run palm oil plantation firm.

Palm oil may retest a resistance at RM4,622 per metric ton, driven by wave c, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

Asian markets were slightly weaker on Wednesday even though US stocks touched new highs, as oil prices rose with a storm heading for the Gulf of Mexico and tensions escalating between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.