KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures surged nearly 3 per cent to two-month highs on Tuesday evening, supported by expectations of lower than forecast production in July and tracking strong gains in soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 2.9pc at 2,626 ringgit ($613.55) a tonne at the close. That was the highest since May 23 thanks to the best daily gain in more than three months.

Traded volumes stood at 53,471 lots of 25 tonnes each in the evening. “The palm market was up, riding the CBOT rally on reports of crop damage,” one Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader said.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2017