June 23, 2006	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, June 22: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed higher on Thursday on bargain-hunting following recent losses, and firmer soyaoil prices, traders said.

The benchmark third-month September contract on Malaysia's derivatives exchange ended the day up five ringgit at 1,463 ringgit ($400) a ton.Other traded contracts were up three to nine ringgit. Overall volume stood at 6,588 lots of 25 tons each. The market is awaiting Malaysia's palm oil export estimates for the first 25 days of June due on Monday.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) reported a slight drop in exports for June 1-20.

July soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade ended 0.16 cent per lb up at 24.44 cents on Wednesday. In Asian trade on Thursday, the contract rose 0.11 cents.

Soyaoil competes with palm oil for use in products ranging from food and soap to cosmetics and biodiesel, so prices for the two commodities tend to move in tandem.—Reuters