Kuala Lumpur: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives experienced a decline today, primarily driven by expectations of rising production in the upcoming weeks and a downturn in soybean oil prices, as stated by palm oil trader David Ng. Ng highlighted that the support level for CPO prices was at RM3,850 per tonne, while the resistance level was at RM4,080 per tonne.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Fastmarkets Palm Oil Analytics senior analyst Dr Sathia Varqa echoed these observations, noting that the market underwent profit-taking following a significant rise last week. This was further compounded by losses in related vegetable oils, cautiousness in anticipation of April's supply and demand estimates, and increasing production, all of which exerted pressure on CPO futures.

It was further reported that profit-taking activities in Chinese vegetable oil futures, particularly on the Dalian Commodity Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, intensified the bearish sentiment in the market.

By the market's close, the May 2025 contract had fallen by RM99 to RM4,040 per tonne, the June 2025 contract had decreased by RM95 to RM3,989 per tonne, the July 2025 contract had dropped by RM92 to RM3,965 per tonne, and the August 2025 contract had declined by RM85 to RM3,962 per tonne.

The September 2025 contract slipped by RM83 to RM3,956 per tonne, and the October 2025 contract reduced by RM78 to RM3,951 per tonne. Additionally, the trading volume fell to 51,205 lots from 92,662 lots last Friday, while open interest decreased to 236,253 contracts from 239,137 contracts previously. The physical CPO price for May South was recorded at RM4,150 per tonne.