Jakarta. Palm oil prices fell to their lowest level in more than four months as a stronger ringgit and weak global demand pressured the market, while Indonesia’s sweeping land seizures in the plantation sector raised concerns over investment sentiment.

Benchmark palm oil dropped 0.69 percent to 4,027 ringgit per ton on Nov. 25, extending a 7.89 percent decline over the past month and trading nearly 15 percent lower than a year earlier, according to contract-for-difference data tracking the commodity. Futures fell to around 4,050 ringgit in November, the weakest since July, Trading Economics data showed.

Malaysia’s currency has strengthened toward a four-year high amid expectations the central bank will keep rates steady to support domestic growth. The firmer ringgit has made palm oil, priced in the local currency, less competitive for overseas buyers. At the same time, rising inventories and a broad retreat across vegetable oil markets have curbed buying interest, with macroeconomic pressures in major consuming countries dimming the outlook for biodiesel feedstock. Cargo surveyors estimate Malaysia’s Nov. 1–20 exports fell between 14 percent and 20 percent from the previous month.

In Indonesia, investor confidence took a hit as the government continued a controversial campaign to seize plantation land deemed to be illegally inside forest zones. Authorities had taken control of about 3.4 million hectares of such land as of Oct. 1, handing management of 1.5 million hectares to state firm Agrinas Palma Nusantara.

Muhamad Zainal Arifin, director of legal advocacy group Pustaka Alam, warned that the seizures lack solid legal grounding. “Many areas designated as forest zones haven’t been legally verified. This raises the risk of arbitrary nationalization,” he said, calling on President Prabowo Subianto to restore legal certainty. “The signal to global investors is clear, the investment climate in Indonesia’s palm oil sector is not in good shape.”

The policy tensions come as Indonesia enters the final phase of tariff negotiations with the United States, a deal officials say could be sealed before year-end. Jakarta also expects the Indonesia–EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to open wider market access, with zero tariffs planned for palm oil, coffee, cocoa, rubber, fisheries products, timber, textiles, and electronics.

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