Malaysian palm oil futures were trading below MYR 3,900 per tonne for the second straight session after approaching last July’s level of MYR 4,000, weighed by a decline in rival edible oils. Production at South Peninsular Palm Oil Mills Association mills showed better recovery than expected during August 1-20, gaining 7% from last month. Meantime, traders continued to follow reports about an investigation by the EU on whether biodiesel from top producer Indonesia was avoiding EU duties by going through China and Britain. Separately, Malaysia increased its reference price for palm oil while maintaining its export tax for September at 8%. On cargo data, Intertek Testing Services and Amspec Agri said shipments of Malaysian palm oil products for August 1-20 rose between 9.8% and 17.4% from the same period a month earlier. In Indonesia, an industry association said that its top buyer China may purchase 7 million tons of palm oil in 2023 and at least 8 million tons next year.
