KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2: Malaysian crude palm oil futures began trading in the new year on a strong note, rising as much as 1.5 per cent, as resilient demand and firm crude oil prices boosted the market.

All factors are favourable. Exports are rising despite such high prices and the soybean oil and crude oil market are strong, said a trader with a domestic broker.

Palm oil hit a record high of 3,150 ringgit last week on concerns over global supplies amid rising world vegetable oil consumption from food and fuel sectors.

Traders said the market awaited December palm oil output numbers after monsoon floods inundated plantations in key producing areas.

Production is down in December but we would like to know the exact numbers from MPOB. Also, any impact of floods on output in January, another trader said.

Other traded months rose between 15 and 34 ringgit .

Overall trade stood at 7,279 lots of 25 tons each.

Malaysian Palm Oil Board, the state-run industry regulator, will unveil December production, exports and ending stocks data on Jan. 10.

Trade estimates on production losses in December range from 20 to 35 per cent from 1.65 million tons of crude palm oil produced in November.

Palm oil, used in products ranging from shampoo to cake shortening to biofuel, rose 53 per cent in 2007.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in December rose 10.8 per cent to 1,428,772 tons from 1,289,182 tons shipped in November, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Oil rose above $96 on Wednesday, bolstered by expectations that US government data would show crude stocks falling for the seventh consecutive week, and as new violence in major oil exporter Nigeria revived supply concerns.

Vegetable oils, such as palm and soybean oil, often track crude oil prices because of growing use of edible oils in the making of biofuels, which compete with petroleum.

In the Malaysian physical market, crude palm oil for January shipment in the southern region was quoted at 3,100/3,120 ringgit a ton.

Trades were unquoted by the end of the session.—Reuters