November 6, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba’an 19, 1422

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5: Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest in two months on Monday, and traders predicted more gains due to bullish market sentiment.

Traders said prices were lifted by Friday’s firmer close by Chicago soyaoil futures and expectations of fresh Indian interest and a new quota for duty-free export of crude palm oil (CPO) following last week’s CPO import duty cut by India.

Benchmark third-month January ended up 44 ringgit at 1,074 ringgit ($282.63) a tonne after trading as high as 1,080, its highest since September 6. The contract was up 55 ringgit last week.

Market volume swelled to 3,400 lots against 2,216 on Friday.

The market is maintaining its momentum due to a combination of bullish factors, a trader said. We expect more gains in the near term.

But some traders noted concerns over exports and output for November.

Private crop forecaster Ivan Wong is expected to release his export, production and closing stocks estimates for October as well as projections for November on Tuesday.

There has also been speculation that Malaysia may announce a new quota for duty-free export of crude palm oil (CPO) by next week after India cut import duties to 65 per cent from 75.

A one million ton quota for this year was exhausted in October and a new allocation was needed if Malaysia was to shield its market share in India from arch-rival Indonesia, traders said.

In physical crude palm oil the November contract for the southern and central regions was bid/asked at 1,015/1,025 ringgit a tonne and traded at 995-1,020.

The December contract for both south and central was bid/asked at 1,045/1,055 and traded at 1,035-1,045 ringgit.—Reuters