The belief that the two countries with the biggest use of palm oil might reduce their purchases prompted the commodity‘s futures to slip, Bloomberg reports.
Recent purchase records for China and India are weak, according to the director of Singapore-based commodities shop. Some investors might already be on vacation or they could have already sold the palm oil in anticipation of the holidays.
China is "not aggressively buying" and India is "buying off and on but not very much", said Vijay Mehta.
The China National Grain & Oils Information Center reported Chinese imports of soybean might amount to 54 million tons for marketing year 2010-2011, which would mark an increase from 50.3 million tons of imports of soybeans in 2009-2010, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
Palm oil for March delivery slipped 1.4 percent to 3,532 ringgit ($1,126) per metric ton. In Kuala Lumpur, the commodity was trading at 3,533 just before 5 p.m. Its highest level, 3,766 ringgit, was on December 14, the most valuable it’s been in nearly three years.
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