Malaysia palm oil ends slightly lower

Malaysia palm oil ends slightly lower

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil futures closed mostly lower on Wednesday after trading in a tight range due to a lack of fresh leads.

The benchmark third position October futures contract ended down one ringgit at 1,039 ringgit (US$273.42) a ton after trading as low as 1,033.

Volume was extremely thin at 368 lots.

"Everyone is waiting for the export figures and Ivan Wong's report. Nobody wants to do anything," said a trader.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance Malaysia Sdn Bhd (SGS) will release export data for July 1-20 on Thursday while July output, stocks and export projections from private forecaster Ivan Wong are due on Friday.

News that India's State Trading Corp (STC) had bought 12,000 tons of soybean oil at $331/ton cif Bombay instead of palm olein was widely ignored by players, despite their craving for fresh leads.

Little activity was reported at the physical sector.

July (south) crude palm oil was offered at 1,020 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,010. Trade was reported at 1,015 ringgit.

August (south) crude palm oil was offered at 1,040 ringgit against bids of 1,030. It traded at 1,030.

Among refined products, July RBD palm oil was offered at $287.50 a ton FOB, August at $290 and September at $292.50.

There were offers for July RBD palm olein at $307.50, with August at $310 and September at $312.50.

July RBD palm stearin was offered at $232.50, with August at $235 and July/August palm fatty acid distillate at $190.