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Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Friday, breaking a two-week rally, as weak crude oil prices weighed on the market.
The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives fell 6 ringgit, or 0.13%, to close at 4,514 ringgit ($1,068.66) a tonne. The contract lost 0.68% for the week.
"The market traded lower as weak crude oil prices weighed on sentiment," said David Ng, a proprietary trader at Kuala Lumpur-based trading firm Iceberg X Sdn Bhd.
Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive feedstock option for biodiesel.
Oil prices retreated, heading for a weekly loss of about 3% after the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast a growing supply glut, and after US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet again to discuss Ukraine.
The most-active soybean oil contract on the Dalian exchange rose 0.05%, while its palm oil contract fell 0.19%. Soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade slipped 0.49%.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of competing vegetable oils, as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.
The ringgit, palm's trading currency, strengthened 0.02% against the dollar, making the commodity slightly more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies.
Eddy Wibowo, an official at the Ministry of Energy, said Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, is considering a plan to require international flights departing from Jakarta and Bali to use a 1% sustainable aviation fuel blend starting in 2026.
The government said India had raised base import prices for gold, silver and all vegetable oils.
Source: Reuters