October 13, 2006	Friday	Ramazan 19, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed higher on Thursday, lifted by a strong export performance announced by cargo surveyors.

But gains were limited by a decline in crude oil prices, traders said.

The benchmark third-month December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives market closed up 7 ringgit at 1,560 ringgit a tonne ($422) after hitting a high of 1,569 ringgit.

Exports have boosted the market sentiment, although crude oil was a bit of disappointment, one dealer said.

Other traded contracts rose between 10 and 26 ringgit. Overall volume stood at 10,925 lots of 25 tons each.

Crop agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Wednesday stocks at the end of September rose 6.84pc to a record 1.799m tons from a month earlier.

It said palm oil output jumped 4.73 per cent to 1.609 million tonnes from August while exports declined 1.31 per cent to 1.295 million tonnes.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe General de Surveillance, said exports jumped 23.4 per cent to 451,199 tons for the same period.

Palm oil is increasingly tracking crude oil prices, driven by rapid growth in the global bio fuel industry based on vegetable oils, which are seen as a cheaper option to fossil fuels.

In the physical crude palm oil market, October shipment was quoted at 1,520/1,525 ringgit a ton.—Reuters