KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures edged up on Thursday, swelled by a jump in crude oil prices, while wet weather warnings across parts of the second-largest grower stoked concern that yields of the tropical oil will drop this month.

Malaysia’s weather department issued an “orange” warning on its website for heavy rain across the states of Sabah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, expected to persist until the end of the week.

The benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.8 per cent at 2,147 ringgit ($621) per tonne by Thursday’s close. Total traded volume stood at 52,238 lots of 25 tonnes, above the average 35,000 lots.

The plunge in oil prices wiped out profitable margins to blend palm oil into biodiesel, pressuring futures. Some market players said the contract was also supported by a technical rebound that kicked in after prices touched 2-week lows of 2,103 ringgit in the previous session.

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in US cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg Crude in US dollars per barrel.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2014