May 10, 2002	Friday	Safar 26, 1423

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9: Malaysian palm oil futures firmed at the close on Thursday, helped by technical buying and strong gains on the physical market, traders said.

The benchmark third-month July futures closed 15 ringgit higher at 1,237 ringgit ($325.53) a ton after trading as high as 1,249 ringgit, just below key resistance of 1,253 ringgit.

Volume was very heavy at 3,245 lots, up from Wednesday’s 1,995 lots.

Traders at the physical side said some main refiners were chasing oil which led to speculation that India, one of Malaysia’s main buyers, would be entering the market soon.

The market expected palm oil exports to reach around 220,000 tons in May 1-10, down from 243,772 tons in April 1-10, but traders said exports for the rest of the month could improve due to better demand.

Indian traders said imports could rise to 450,000 tons in May and cross 500,000 tons in June, July and August mainly because local supplies will dry up and demand rises by about 10 per cent during the rainy season which begins in June.

In Pakistan, traders said the country could buy more than 100,000 tons of palm oil in May, up from the monthly 80,000 tons in order to replenish the dwindling stocks.—Reuters