KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13: Malaysian crude palm oil futures tumbled by as much as 9.6 per cent to a week’s low on Tuesday as investors kicked off a selling spree after overnight losses in soyaoil and crude markets, ignoring a fall in domestic stocks.

Falling stocks have boosted prices of palm oil, used in a range of products from biscuits to biofuel, by 35 per cent since an Oct 28. low of 1,331 ringgit, but fears of further weakening in global demand for vegetable oils and crude oil have spooked sentiment.

The benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell as much as 191 ringgit to stand at 1,797 ringgit ($502.7) per ton, a level unseen since Jan. 5.

The contract then closed down 158 ringgit at 1,830 ringgit.

Malaysian crude palm oil stocks fell almost 12 per cent in December, retreating from peaks hit in November as production fell and exports rose, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Monday.

Exports for the first 10 days of January dived 37 per cent to below 400,000 tons from the same period a month ago, but are within trade expectations.

In Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, the state marketing centre said it sold 4,000 tons of crude palm oil out of 6,000 tons it offered, at a top price of 6,239 rupiah ($0.56) per kg, down from 6,528 rupiah per kg on Monday.

Producers in Medan -- home to Belawan port, Indonesia’s key port for palm oil exports -- sold palm oil at 6,175-6,220 rupiah per kg. They did not hold a palm oil tender on Monday.

Meanwhile, refiners in Jakarta sold refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, used as cooking oil, at about 6,850 rupiah per kg, down from 6,900 rupiah per kg on Monday.

In Malaysia’s physical market, palm oil for January delivery was called at 1,840-1,870 ringgit per ton in the southern region. Trades were done between 1,850 and 1,870 ringgit.—Reuters