November 08, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 26, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7: Malaysian crude palm oil futures broke past a key 3,000-ringgit resistance level to strike a record high on Wednesday, as crude jumped to a new peak and soyoil soared to a near 33-year high.

But a top industry analyst Dorab Mistry said the market needed to take a breather to allow investors to gauge how palm prices, which have surged more than 50 percent this year, would affect demand.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 49 ringgit, or 1.7 percent, to a high of 3,009 ringgit ($904), its seventh record high. The contract ended up 40 ringgit at 3,000 ringgit.

For the first time ever, we are trading with 3,000 ringgit for a metric ton. Never has there been so much volatility in this market, said a dealer with a foreign trading house.

It is dangerous, uncharted, and choppy waters.

Other traded months rose between 31 and 59 ringgit. Overall trade stood at 12,057 lots of 25 tons each.

You can take prices up to any level. But it may not be sustainable. It may kill demand. Then, there will be a collapse, Dorab Mistry, director of London-based Godrej International told Reuters at the sidelines of a price outlook conference in Bali, Indonesia.

Oil stormed towards $99 a barrel on Wednesday, closing in on a triple-digit all-time high, driven by a slumping U.S. dollar and concern about a fuel supply crunch heading into the peak demand winter season.

US crude rose $1.51 by 1020 GMT to $98.21 having earlier hit a record $98.62.

December soyaoil closed 1.06 cent, or 2.5 per cent, higher at 43.62 cents per lb, following its run to 43.70 cents -- the highest price for a spot contract since Nov. 11, 1974.

The contract gained a further 0.6 per cent to 43.90 cents per pound in Asian trade on Wednesday.

Palm oil and soyaoil increasingly track movements in the crude oil market because of growing demand for both commodities as feedstock for biodiesel.

In Malaysia’s physical market, crude palm oil for November shipment in the southern region was quoted at 3,000/3,010 ringgit a ton. Trades were done at 2,980 and 3,000 ringgit.—Reuters