Palm oil on course for 1% weekly drop on Indo-China regulatory fears

October 22, 2021: Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Friday, and were set for a 1.3% weekly decline, as talks that top buyers China and India may strengthen regulation on speculative activities rattled the market.

The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 72 ringgit, or 1.45%, to 4,896 ringgit ($1,178.06) a tonne during early trade, down for a second consecutive session.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The market is concerned that regulators in India and China would increase scrutiny on speculative trading to tame record high prices, following news that Beijing signaled it might intervene to cool surging prices of coal futures.

* Dalian's most active soyoil contract fell 4.6%, while its palm oil contract dropped 5.4%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.5%.

* Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

* Palm oil may open low on Friday to extend its losses into a range of 4,822-4,909 ringgit, following completion of a five-wave cycle from 4,125 ringgit per tonne, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

Reuters