November 18, 2006	Saturday	Shawwal 25, 1427

BANGKOK, Nov 17: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed higher on Friday as the market waited for key export data to be released by cargo surveyors. The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange was up 9 ringgit at 1,764 ringgit a ton ($483) after trading between 1,743 ringgit and 1,788 ringgit.

Exports of Malaysian oil palm products for October 1-20 rose 17 per cent to 941,070 tons from 804,277 tons shipped between September 1 and 20, SGS said.

Other traded palm oil contracts were up 4 to 18 ringgit on Friday, but the July contract fell 4 ringgit.—Reuters