KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose after three sessions of losses in early trade on Tuesday, tracking a recovery in soyoil on the US Chicago Board of Trade.

Benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was last up 1.3 per cent at 2,055 ringgit ($492.22) per tonne at noon. The market will be closed from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday for Eid holidays, and will reopen for a full trading session on Friday.

“The market is up tracking soyoil, which gained on slow planting estimates from the US Department of Agriculture,” said a Kuala Lumpur based trader. US soyoil prices rose after the USDA reported that planting was well behind the average pace for this time of year.

The Chicago July soybean oil contract was last up 0.6pc on Tuesday. Wet weather had plagued US farmers last week, especially in the Eastern Corn Belt, as planting progress for corn and soybeans likely failed to advance as much as needed given the already slow pace.

The Crop Watch growers in Indiana and Ohio did not report that much progress had been made.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2019