KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Monday, helped by improving export demand and strong commodity prices due to tight supplies, traders said.
Benchmark palm oil futures for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.9% to RM3,110 (US$696.68) a tonne at the end of the trading session.
Traded volumes stood at 45,059 lots of 25 tonnes each.
Palm was down in the morning, but recovered on good export figures, a weaker ringgit and strong prices for rival oils on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, said a Kuala Lumpur based trader.
"Physical prices of crude palm oil are still firm, so that contributed to the adjustment up," he said.
Prices of crude palm oil have gained since the fourth quarter of last year on tight market supplies, as output was hit by El Nino, which damaged crops and lowered yields of palm's fresh fruit.
Stronger Malaysian exports for the first half of January, pointing to good demand, also supported palm. Shipments rose 6.7% in the Jan 1–15 period from the first two weeks in December, data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services showed on Monday morning.
Data from another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, showed that shipments rose 12% during the same time period.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, slipped 0.1% against the US dollar to 4.4640. A weaker ringgit usually makes palm oil more affordable for holders of foreign currencies.
Palm oil prices are also impacted by the movement of related vegetable oils, as they compete for a share in the global edible oils market.
The May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.7%, and the May contract for Dalian palm olein was up 0.5%.
US markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1048 GMT
| Contract | Month | Last | Change | Low | High | Volume |
| MY PALM OIL | FEB7 | 3208 | +26.00 | 3185 | 3208 | 880 |
| MY PALM OIL | MAR7 | 3145 | +25.00 | 3108 | 3145 | 16503 |
| MY PALM OIL | APR7 | 3111 | +28.00 | 3062 | 3111 | 20216 |
| CHINA PALM OLEIN | MAY7 | 6320 | +32.00 | 6238 | 6368 | 652668 |
| CHINA SOYOIL | MAY7 | 7000 | +50.00 | 6908 | 7020 | 370910 |
| CBOT SOY OIL | MAR7 | 35.6 | +0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| INDIA PALM OIL | JAN7 | 590.60 | +1.70 | 589.10 | 591.3 | 336 |
| INDIA SOYOIL | JAN7 | 731 | +0.50 | 730 | 732.9 | 4970 |
| NYMEX CRUDE | FEB7 | 52.46 | +0.09 | 52.15 | 52.72 | 49452 |
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in US cents per pound
Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in US dollars per barrel
(US$1 = RM4.4640)
(US$1 = 68.1150 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.8986 Chinese yuan)