March 21, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20: Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher on Tuesday, driven by increase in soyabean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The benchmark third-month June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 7 ringgit at 1,977 ringgit ($566) per ton. Other traded months rose between 4 and 20 ringgit.

The benchmark contract rose 1.2 per cent on Monday on hopesof better exports and it is off an eight-year high of 2,062 ringgit reached in December when floods disrupted deliveries.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March 1-20 rose 0.8 per cent to 617,142 tonnes from 612,057 tons shipped between Feb. 1-20, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports during the period fell 6.1 per cent to 596,774 tons from 635,215 tons shipped between February 1-20.

Palm oil prices are set to jump more than 20 per cent by the year-end as global oilseed stocks are run down and demand from the food and fuel sectors surges, industry officials said at a price outlook conference in Malaysia last week.

Malaysian palm oil, which gained almost 40 per cent last year, could move slightly downward in the near term, but surging Indian food demand and Europe's insatiable appetite for biofuels will ensure the commodity holds on to the gains this year.—Reuters