KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed marginally higher on Wednesday, as soyaoil firmed slightly and the ringgit currency stabilised, dealers said. The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivative exchange finished up 13 ringgit at 1,853 ringgit ($522) per ton after hitting a high of 1,866 ringgit.

Most other traded months were up between 9 and 23 ringgit. Overall traded volume was 10,609 lots of 25 tons each.

There was good buying because ringgit seems to have stabilised and there was some improvement in soyaoil,” one dealer said.

On the Chicago Board of Trade, December soyaoil closed Tuesday 0.02 cent higher at 28.92 cents per lb and January oil was steady at 29.34 cents.

Soyaoil and palm oil compete for exports and their prices often move in step.

In the physical palm oil market, December shipment was quoted at 1,835/1,840 ringgit a ton. Trades were done between 1,835 and 1,840 ringgit.

Exports of Malaysian palm products for November fell 5 per cent to 1,359,790 tons from 1,430,900 tons in October, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said.

Another cargo surveyor, Intertek Testing Services, said exports during the month fell 5.7 per cent to 1,366,111 ton. The trade had been expecting a decline of around 8 to 10 per cent in November exports.—Reuters