October 18, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 24, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed higher on Tuesday, boosted by higher crude oil prices and strong exports.

The benchmark third-month January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives market ended up 8 ringgit at 1,598 ringgit ($435) a ton after trading in a range of 1,590 to 1,604 ringgit.

Other traded contracts finished up between 3 and 15 ringgit. Overall volume stood at 15,249 lots of 25 tons each.

Exports of Malaysian palm products for October 1-15 rose 30 per cent to 708,014 tons from 544,652 shipped from September 1 to 15, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Palm oil often tracks crude oil prices, driven by rapid growth in the global biofuel 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 1,530/1,535 ringgit a ton. Trades were done between 1,515 and 1,530 ringgit.

—Reuters