KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): Malaysian palm oil futures rose in early trade on Monday, helped by improving export demand and supported by strong commodity prices due to tight market supplies, traders said.
Benchmark palm oil futures for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.4% to 3,095 ringgit (US$693) a tonne at midday break.
Traded volumes stood at 16,264 lots of 25 tonnes each at noon.
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.
The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, slipped 0.1% against the 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 and the May contract for Dalian palm olein both rose 0.3%.
U.S. markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0500 GMT
| Contract | Month | Last | Change | Low | High | Volume |
| MY PALM OIL | FEB7 | 3190 | +8.00 | 3185 | 3193 | 194 |
| MY PALM OIL | MAR7 | 3128 | +8.00 | 3108 | 3138 | 4940 |
| MY PALM OIL | APR7 | 3095 | +12.00 | 3062 | 3101 | 7732 |
| CHINA PALM OLEIN | MAY7 | 6308 | +20.00 | 6238 | 6332 | 375522 |
| CHINA SOYOIL | MAY7 | 6968 | +18.00 | 6908 | 6986 | 221010 |
| CBOT SOY OIL | MAR7 | 35.6 | +0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| INDIA PALM OIL | JAN7 | 590.00 | +1.10 | 589.10 | 590.7 | 91 |
| INDIA SOYOIL | JAN7 | 731.9 | +1.40 | 731.9 | 731.9 | 10 |
| NYMEX CRUDE | FEB7 | 52.51 | +0.14 | 52.39 | 52.63 | 7182 |
Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in U.S. 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 U.S. dollars per barrel
(US$1 = 4.4640 ringgit)
(US$1 = 68.1600 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.8922 Chinese yuan)