KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended gains on Tuesday evening to five-month highs on concerns about production, and tracking advances in related edible oils.

The benchmark palm oil contract for November delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 1 per cent at 2,737 ringgit ($639.64) at the close of trade, its fourth straight session of increases. It earlier climbed to an intraday high of 2,771 ringgit, its loftiest since March 23.

Traded volumes stood at 64,166 lots of 25 tonnes each. “Demand (for palm oil) is still the same but local production is not coming up, which is the main reason why the market is holding up,” said a trader from Kuala Lumpur, adding however that he did not expect the surge to continue for long.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2017