February 16, 2006	Thursday	Muharram 17, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15: Surging exports helped Malaysian palm oil ends up for a fifth straight day, with traders saying the market could break a major resistance during an industry conference next week.

The volume traded was substantial at 4,712 lots of 25 tons each, although lower than the 6,000 lots or more seen on a typically busy day.

The third-month contract last broke 1,500 ringgit on March 16 when it hit an intraday peak of 1,504. So, as much as the good exports numbers we’re having now, there will be people keen to push the market up to 1,500 ringgit to set the stage for that main event, he said.

The focus on domestic fundamentals was enough for players to even ignore India’s new base import prices of palm oil, which should have been bearish to the market.

India — the world’s largest edible oils buyer — on Wednesday raised the base import price of crude palm oil sourced mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia to $426 per ton from $412.

In physical trade of crude palm oil, February quotes stood at 1,460/1,465 ringgit a ton in Malaysia’s southern and central regions.—Reuters