KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a fourth session on Monday to a week’s high as better-than-expected export data signalled firm appetite for the tropical oil, with prices underpinned by gains in crude oil and Asian equity markets.

Palm oil investors are also keeping an eye on monsoon rains and flooding in parts of Malaysia, the world’s second-largest grower, which may hurt December supply. The benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged up 0.8 per cent to 2,170 ringgit ($622) per tonne by Monday’s close, its highest since Dec 15.

Prices traded in a tight range of 2,152-2,174 ringgit, with total traded volume at 32,464 lots of 25 tonnes, slightly below the usual 35,000 lots.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that exports of Malaysian palm products for Dec. 1-20 rose 8.8pc to 911,595 tonnes, compared with the same period a month earlier, as demand from Europe, China and India picked up.

The faster pace compared to earlier December could help bring down inventories of palm oil in Malaysia, which at end-November swelled to a 21-month high of 2.28 million tonnes.

Published in Dawn December 23th , 2014