April 10, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed 1.1 per cent higher on Monday to new eight-year highs, boosted by strong gains in Chicago Board of Trade grains and oilseeds.

The benchmark third-month June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 23 ringgit, or 1.09 per cent, to 2,132 ringgit ($619) a ton, a level not seen since January 1999.

The contract hit an intraday high of 2,143 ringgit a ton. Our market is getting support because grains and oilseed prices are flying on CBOT due to cold weather in the United States,” said one dealer. At the same time demand is looking good, exports are rising. Other traded months rose between 19 and 46 in overall trade of 11,027 lots of 25 tons each.

Wheat and corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade surged on Monday, the first day of trade following the Easter weekend, extending rallies from the previous week on cold weather in the United States.

Soyaoil also got caught up in the rise with the May contract up 0.23 cent to 32.65 cents an lb in Asian electronic trade on Monday.

Malaysia's exports are picking up after months of slowdown because of strong demand from the world's top buyers China and India.

Malaysian palm oil stocks are expected to decline 6.7 per cent in March from a month ago as growth in exports outstrips an increase in production, a Reuters poll showed.—Reuters