September 04, 2007	Tuesday	Sha'aban 21, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3: Malaysian crude palm oil futures jumped 2.2 per cent on Monday as firmer prices of rival soybean oil and strong exports unveiled by cargo surveyors revived bullish sentiment.

Indonesia’s decision to raise the export tax for crude palm oil and refined, bleached and deodorised palm olein to 7.5 per cent from 6.5 per cent also pushed palm oil prices higher, traders said.

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 54 ringgit, or 2.2 per cent, to 2,474 ringgit ($707) per ton.

The market is (in) buoyant mood because soyoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade has been pretty strong while export growth is steadily moving up because of the festive demand, said one trader.

The Indonesian tax plan has made players excited as Malaysian palm oil will always be at a discount, said another trader. But this is just going to push up cooking oil and international palm prices anyway, defeating the purpose.

Other traded months rose between 46 and 58 ringgit in overall volume of 9,400 lots of 25 tons each.

Palm oil, used in products ranging from confectionery and cosmetics to biofuels, is more than 10 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June.

Malaysia’s August palm oil exports rose 14 per cent to 1,236,540 tons from 1,084,062 tons shipped in July, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance said exports in the same period rose 15.9 per cent to 1,264,422 tons.—Reuters