KUALA LUMPUR, June 20: Malaysian crude palm oil futures rallied for a third straight day, with the benchmark contract looking poised to breach 1,450 ringgit next, after chasing a fresh run up in US soyaoil. Export estimates for June 1 to 20 from cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance, showing a 9 per cent drop from the first 20 days of June, did not worry market bulls who took prices up by around 2 per cent.

In Kuala Lumpur, the benchmark third-month crude palm oil futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, September ended up 31 ringgit at 1,440 ringgit ($378.95) a ton.

Its intraday high was 1,447 ringgit, just short of the psychological mark of 1,450 ringgit.

Aside from the benchmark September, other traded months months closed up 27 to 34 ringgit.

Trade was heavy, at 10,924 lots of 25 tons each. The typical level for a market is around 6,000 lots.

In the central region, the contracts saw final bids/offers at 1,440/1,445 ringgit.

Trades were reported at 1445-1442.50 ringgit in the south and 1,445-1,440 in the central region. —Reuters