KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures surged to a near-five-month high in evening trade on Monday, supported by forecasts of slower than expected output growth and technical buying despite weaker export data from cargo surveyors.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.1pc to 2,711 ringgit for its strongest daily gain in more than a week. The contract earlier touched 2,720 ringgit, its highest since March 29.

Traded volumes stood at 67,988 lots of 25 tonnes on Mon­day evening. “The market believes there may be negative growth in production,” one Kuala Lumpur futures trader said.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2017