Malaysian palm oil futures fell below MYR 4,010 per tonne on Friday, extending losses for a fourth consecutive session and hitting a four-week low, pressured by weakness in edible oil benchmarks on the Dalian and Chicago exchanges. Sentiment was further weighed down by softer export projections, after cargo surveyors reported that Malaysian palm oil shipments for February 1–10 declined by 10.5%–14.3% month-on-month.
The benchmark contract is on track for a second straight weekly loss, down about 3.5% so far, as worries over subdued demand from key buyer China persisted following weaker-than-expected January CPI data released just ahead of the Spring Festival. Prices also came under pressure from Indonesia’s decision to delay the implementation of a higher biodiesel blending mandate, as well as expectations of stronger palm oil output in the coming months.
Even so, the downside was partly limited by continued strong demand from top buyer India, where January palm oil imports jumped 51% month-on-month to a four-month high after plunging in December. In parallel, Malaysia raised its March crude palm oil reference price while keeping the export duty unchanged at 9%.
