KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures hit a fresh one-month top on Thursday, charting a fourth session of gains in five, as expectations of falling end-March stockpiles boosted the market.

The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.7 per cent to 2,472 ringgit ($639.59) a tonne at the end of the trading day. It earlier rose to 2,478 ringgit a tonne, its highest since March 7. Trading volume stood at 26,381 lots of 25 tonnes each at the close of trade.

“The market is looking at end-stocks reducing,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, referring to Malaysian inventory levels at the end of March.

Another trader said news of China’s increase in tariffs by up to 25pc on 128 US products including soybeans also lent support to the market. China’s move to impose tariffs on imported US soybeans may boost palm oil’s draw in the short term, traders and analysts said, as the spread between palm and soyoil is expected to widen as the latter becomes more costly in Beijing.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2018