By Mayank Bhardwaj
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures extended falls into a fourth session on Thursday and hit their lowest in one month on continued concerns about weak demand outlook, while declines in Chicago soybeans weighed on the market as well.
The palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.5 percent at 2,382 ringgit ($599.55) a tonne at the midday break.
Trading volume stood at 11,863 lots of 25 tonnes.
"Basically weak demand is causing prices to retreat," said a Kuala Lumpur-based palm oil trader.
Buying for Ramadan has fizzled out as most buyers have already stocked up with the vegetable oil.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began in mid-May this year, is marked by communal fasting and feasting that boosts consumption of vegetable oils, including palm and soy, in the Middle East and across South and Southeast Asia.
"A weaker external market is also influencing Malaysian palm oil prices," said another Kuala Lumpur-based trader.
On Thursday, the most active soybean futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade was 0.1 percent lower at $9.93 a bushel, after hitting its weakest since April 4 at $9.92 a bushel, as uncertainty about the United States' trade relationships with China, the world's top soybean importer, weighed on the market.
Palm oil is influenced by movements in rival edible oils and oilseeds as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Malaysia's palm oil exports in May dropped 8.8 percent from April to around 1.2 million tonnes, independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said last week.
Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) said the country's May palm oil exports fell 9.9 percent from a month ago.
In Indonesia, the world's top palm oil exporter, shipments of palm and palm kernel oils plunged 13.6 percent in April, data from the Indonesia Palm Oil Association showed.
Palm oil still targets 2,364 ringgit, as it has broken a support at 2,408 ringgit per tonne, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0523 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUN8 2382 -14.00 2375 2388 58
MY PALM OIL JUL8 2382 -12.00 2372 2388 1,299
MY PALM OIL AUG8 2382 -12.00 2375 2390 5,580
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP8 5014 -20.00 5004 5030 124,040
CHINA SOYOIL SEP8 5790 -32.00 5778 5820 225,004
CBOT SOY OIL JUL8 30.65 0.50 30.62 30.68 2,644
INDIA PALM OIL JUN8 645.40 0.50 643.10 645.90 52
INDIA SOYOIL JUN8 751.50 0.80 749.50 751.50 620
NYMEX CRUDE JUL8 65.15 0.42 64.85 65.25 33,614
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
($1 = 3.9730 ringgit)
($1 = 67.08 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.39 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)