Kuala Lumpur, Sept 15 - Malaysian crude palm oil futures tumbled 5.4 percent on Monday to hit a 15-month low as crude oil fell further below key $100 a barrel milestone, dragging down other vegetable oils, traders said.
And signs of weakening export demand shown by cargo surveyors weighed on prices which are now more than half of record levels of 4,486 ringgit hit in early March.
The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell as much as 128 ringgit to 2,252 ringgit ($651.8) per tonne, a level unseen since June 13, 2007.
"Crude oil has been a main crutch for palm oil and that appears to be giving way as well," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage. "Biodiesel hopes are now a flash in the pan."
Oil tumbled below $100 a barrel to a six-month low on early signs that Hurricane Ike may have spared key Gulf Coast infrastructure, although traders were cautious on Monday as they awaited status reports on more Texas refineries.
Soyoil for October delivery at the Chicago Board of Trade slid nearly 1.3 percent thanks to crude oil but Dalian Commodity Exchange's most-active January 2009 contract gained 1.4 percent.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept. 1-15 fell 8.5 percent to 616,138 tonnes from 673,264 tonnes shipped between Aug. 1 and 15, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday. [ID:nKLR37852]
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a 5.8 percent fall to 605,786 tonnes. [ID:nKLR126317] ($1=3.455 ringgit)