KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower today on concerns over demand and as profit-taking continued following the recent rally.

Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics owner and co-founder Sathia Varqa said CPO futures posted a third straight trading day of sharp losses, erasing 720 points from the active month as prices go through a series of correction, mirroring the fall in Dalian’s rival oils and reversal in crude oil price rise.

"Market talk of Indonesia reducing or removing the domestic market obligation (DMO) policy had also triggered a big sell-off of eight per cent. Improving production outlook from March onwards also weighs down on the futures market.

"However, the weaker ringgit which tumbled to its lowest in three months against the US dollar today helped cushion the price fall,” he told Bernama.

Palm oil trader David Ng said the CPO price plunged on concern over demand amid news that China’s cities are again under lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19.

"Traders also took profit after the recent rally in prices. We locate support at RM6,000 and resistance at RM6,500 a tonne,” he added.

At the close today, the CPO futures contract for March 2022 lost RM694 to RM6,986 a tonne, April 2022 slipped RM656 to RM6,924 a tonne and May 2022 decreased RM602 to RM6,361 a tonne.

June 2022 shed RM492 to RM5,973 a tonne, July 2022 were RM388 lower at RM5,780 a tonne and August 2022 declined RM320 to RM5,642 a tonne.

Total volume increased to 79,487 lots from Friday’s close of 60,368 lots, while open interest widened to 264,179 contracts from 242,249 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for March South fell by RM300 to RM7,200 a tonne. — Bernama