July 19, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 22, 1427

JAKARTA, July 18: Indonesia's palm oil prices extended gains on Tuesday buoyed by a rally in Malaysia's palm oil futures and tight local supply, traders said.

Crude palm oil at a local auction in Medan was traded at 4,055 rupiah ($0.440) a kg, up from 3,930 rupiah a kg on last Thursday.

There were no local auctions in Medan on Friday and Monday.

At the state marketing centre's auction, CPO was traded at4,042 rupiah a kg on Tuesday, up from 3,917 rupiah a kg on Thursday. The centre did not hold any local auctions on last Friday and Monday.

Malaysia continues its rally today. Also, CPO supply,especially from Kalimantan, is a bit tight so some buyers are willing to pay higher prices said a trader in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province and the key port for palm oil exports.

Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended higher on Tuesday, fuelled by strong demand and higher prices of crude oil with the benchmark third-month October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ending up 14 ringgit at 1,555 ringgit ($422) a ton.

October/November/December shipments were offered at $425 a ton, FOB Belawan, but buyers did not bid for the shipment.

—Reuters