KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24: Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed 2.6 per cent to a near four-month high on Monday as a bullish price forecast by a top industry analyst and firm soyaoil prices spurred strong buying.
The most-active December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 69 ringgit to 2,675 ringgit ($772) a ton.
The market touched an intraday high of 2,678 ringgit, a level not seen since June 6.
Other traded months rose between 15 and 70 ringgit in overall trade of 14,667 lots of 25 tons each.
The palm oil market seems to be playing catch-up with the price range Dorab Mistry has given, said one trader. And it is bound to go higher because soyoil has been very strong in the past few days. Global palm oil prices may reach 2,600-3,000 ringgit per ton shortly as demand is likely to surpass supply and rival soyaoil is also expected to rise sharply, top industry analyst Mistry said on Sunday.
Soyaoil prices would soon scale up to $900 per ton and might touch $1,000 per ton, Mistry, whose forecasts are closely watched by the industry, told a conference in the Indian state of Goa.
These days, the palm oil prices are not really affected by local fundamentals. It is soyabean oil that sets the pace,” said another Malaysian trader.
October soyaoil closed 0.45 cent per lb weaker at 38.99 cents per lb; deferreds were down 0.40 to 0.59 cent. It rose almost 1 per cent to 39.36 cents per lb at 1026 GMT during Asian trade on Monday.
Global oilseed output is expected to fall by 13 million tons to 391 million tons in the year to October 2008 from the year before, industry analyst Thomas Mielke said on Sunday, which may lift edible oil prices.
Oilseed production was likely to fall due to an expected lower crop in China, Australia, Europe and North America, Mielke, editor of the Oil World publication, told the conference in Goa.
Palm oil, in high demand for making sweetmeats and other delicacies during the current festival season in Asia, is just 3 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June.
December palm oil on Singapore’s Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange was untraded by 1026 GMT. The January contract moved higher to $761.50 a ton, with 12 lots traded.
