Palm oil futures in Malaysia fell to a one-month low on Thursday

Following a 12% drop in oil prices since Monday, Malaysian palm oil futures fell to a one-month low yesterday amid a possible US banking crisis, despite a boost in exports.

June palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia yesterday fell 0.8% to their lowest level since February 15 at 3,935 ringgit/t or $875/t, losing 6.9% for the week and 10.6 for the two weeks %.

The day before, quotations for soybean oil fell by 2.8%, and for palm oil - by 1.1%, on the Chinese stock exchange in Dalian.

Experts believe that the reason for the sharp drop in quotations is the crisis in the banking industry, which has affected the broad financial markets. Macroeconomic forecasts have turned sharply negative, despite the still solid fundamental indicators. In addition, there remains uncertainty regarding weather conditions due to the El Niño phenomenon.

According to surveyors, Malaysia increased its palm oil exports by 55-72% for March 1-15 compared to the same period in February, as India steps up purchases ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, but this has not yet affected prices.

At the same time, in February, according to the Indian SEA Association, India reduced its palm oil imports by 42% compared to January to an 8-month low of 586.01 thousand tons, against the background of reduced domestic demand and high stocks due to active imports in previous months.

Palm oil producers in Indonesia, the world's largest producer of palm oil, sold 360.15 thousand tons of cheap oil on the domestic market in February, which does not meet the government's goal of providing supplies to local consumers, the country's trade minister said.

Dry and hot weather is forecast to adversely affect grain and oilseed crops in Asia, and the El Niño weather phenomenon is expected to intensify in the second half of the year, increasing risks of supply disruptions and accelerating food price increases.