KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14: Malaysian crude palm oil futures firmed on Monday because of short covering triggered by market-friendly crop data for September and talk of good exports for the first 15 days of October, traders said.

On Tuesday, cargo surveyors ITS and SGS will release the exports data for October 1-15 which could reach more than 500,000 tons. SGS has put exports at 426,226 tons for September 1-15.

At the close, the benchmark third-month December futures were 23 ringgit higher at 1,397 ringgit ($367.63) a ton after trading as high as 1,409 ringgit.

Volume was heavy at 3,911 lots.

It said end-September palm oil stocks were up 5.01 per cent to 1.15 million tons from 1.09 million tons at end-August. At end-September last year, stocks stood at 1.22 million tons.

November/December was offered at 1,410 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,400 ringgit for south and central. There were deals at 1,390 to 1,400 ringgit a ton for both sides.—Reuters