March 07, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 17, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed 1 per cent higher on Tuesday after three straight days of decline as players covered positions ahead of a price outlook conference next week.

The benchmark third-month May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange finished up 20 ringgit, or 1.04 per cent, at 1,943 ringgit ($553) a ton.

Palm oil has risen because there is some short-covering before a price outlook conference which is expected to be bullish for the prices, said a dealer.

Overall volume was down at 3,222 lots of 25 tons each, compared with around 12,000 lots that change hands on a normal day.

Palm oil also bucked its usual trend of tracking the US soyoil market, which closed lower on Monday.

Palm oil often tracks the soyabean market because both are used in products ranging from food and cosmetics to biodiesel.

The market slipped around 1 per cent on Monday and it is off an eight-year high of 2,062 ringgit reached in December, when floods disrupted deliveries.

The state-run Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release February exports, output and stocks data on March 12. On the same day, cargo surveyors will unveil export numbers for March 1 to 10.

In Malaysia's physical market, crude palm oil for March shipment was quoted at 1,945/1,950 ringgit per ton. Trades were done between 1,940 and 1,945 ringgit a ton.—Reuters