October 25, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 12, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24: Malaysian palm oil futures yielded little ground on Wednesday to stand nearly 3 pc off record highs in a market split between a rebound in rival soyabean oil markets and rapidly weakening crude oil prices.

Dealers said hopes of steady export growth and a possible shortfall in supplies due to declining production helped underpin prices of palm oil, which struck a record peak of 2,795 ringgit last week.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 9 ringgit to 2,713 ringgit ($805) per ton. Demand for palm oil and soybean oil have been moving faster than production, which will result in a decline in inventories, said an official from a leading plantation house.

India asked three state-run firms and a farmer’s cooperative to import 125,000 tons of edible oils by the mid of Nov to augment supplies for the festival season.—Reuters