KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged up on Tuesday, lifted by gains in overseas soy oil markets and on better-than-expected exports in August, although concerns about higher edible oil supplies kept prices near five-and-a-half-year lows.

Shipments of Malaysian palm oil products fell 4.8 per cent from a month earlier to 1,288,117 tonnes in August, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said, but recovered from steeper losses earlier in the month as a surge in demand from India offset weaker imports by China and Europe.

In overseas markets commonly tracked by palm, the US soyoil contract for December rose 0.78pc in Asian trade, while the most active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 1.2pc.

By Tuesday’s close, the benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.2pc to 1,952 ringgit ($613) per tonne, pulling up from a March 2009 low of 1,914 ringgit hit earlier in the day.

Total traded volume stood at 55,627 lots of 25 tonnes, well above the daily average of 35,000 lots.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2014