VEGOILS-Palm oil snaps two days of gains on stronger ringgit
* Palm posts 1.8 pct weekly gain but is down 4.2 pct on the
month
* Market taking profit after recent gains -trader
* Industry players see weak demand weighing on market
(Updates with closing prices)
By Emily Chow
KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
fell in Friday evening trade, easing from a two-week high hit in
the previous session, on pressure from a stronger ringgit.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, firmed by 0.05
percent to 4.0380 against the dollar. A stronger local currency
typically makes palm oil more expensive for holders of foreign
currencies.
The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery
on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down
0.7 percent at 2,326 ringgit ($576.03) a tonne at the close of
trade, snapping two days of gains.
It is up 1.8 percent for the week but remained 4.2 percent
down on the month and has shed 7.1 percent since the start of
the year.
Trading volumes stood at 38,254 lots of 25 tonnes each at
the end of the trading day. (1FCPO-TOT)
A stronger ringgit was weighing on palm today and the market
was also taking profits after recent gains, said one Kuala
Lumpur-based futures trader.
"Overall though, demand looks bad, hence sentiment is still
bearish," he added.
Demand for palm oil has waned in recent weeks, with
Malaysian shipments declining by 12.6 to 14.1 percent in the
June 1-25 period versus the previous month, cargo surveyors
reported.
Leading industry analyst Dorab Mistry said at a seminar in
Jakarta on Thursday that a slowdown in Indian demand, because of
higher import duties and Malaysia's reinstatement of a crude
palm oil export tax, had contributed to recent price falls.
India, the world's top buyer of palm oil, is expected to
import only 500,000 tonnes in June, down from the usual
800,000-850,000 tonne range, Mistry said.
In related oils, the Chicago December soybean oil contract
edged up by 0.03 percent, while September soybean oil on
China's Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Dalian September palm oil contract
rose by 1.1 percent.
Palm oil prices track the performance of other edible oils,
competing in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1057 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL JUL8 2300 -27.00 2250 2300 110
MY PALM OIL AUG8 2323 -17.00 2318 2348 2001
MY PALM OIL SEP8 2323 -17.00 2316 2348 14761
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP8 4856 +54.00 4820 4882 273080
CHINA SOYOIL SEP8 5570 +12.00 5550 5604 277130
CBOT SOY OIL DEC8 29.7 +0.05 29.48 29.73 3888
INDIA PALM OIL JUN8 643.50 -0.70 643.50 644 101
INDIA SOYOIL JUL8 750 -2.00 748.1 751.3 9860
NYMEX CRUDE AUG8 73.23 -0.22 72.93 73.67 132423
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 = 4.0380 ringgit)
($1 = 68.5025 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.6210 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Emily Chow
Editing by Sunil Nair and David Goodman)
