KUALA LUMPUR, April 11: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed 1.6 per cent higher on Wednesday, setting fresh eight-year highs as tight supplies and strong exports continued to fuel the market.

Dealers said gains in the US soyaoil market during Asian trading hours also supported palm.

The benchmark third-month June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 35 ringgit, or 1.6 per cent, at 2,188 ringgit ($635) a ton, a level not seen since January 1999.

Malaysian palm oil prices soared 40 per cent in 2006, driven by biodiesel demand, and analysts expect the market to rise around 20 per cent this year.

Malaysia's end-March palm oil stocks fell 10.6 per cent to 1.34 million tons as exports jumped almost 30 per cent during the month and production failed to keep pace, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Tuesday.

Other traded months rose between 5 and 60 ringgit except for some distant months which were down. Overall volume stood at 15,001 lots of 25 tons each.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-10 rose 38 per cent to 428,985 tons from 310,679 shipped between March 1 and 10, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

They estimated Malaysia's palm imports from Indonesia in January and February slipped to around 37,000 tons from about 300,000 during the same months in 2006.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for April shipment in the southern region was quoted at 2,200/2,240 ringgit a ton.

—Reuters