SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday evening, hitting their highest in more than two weeks, supported by a weaker ringgit and firmer soyoil on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange.

The ringgit, palm’s currency of trade, eased to a three-week low against the dollar, making the edible oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. The ringgit was down 0.1pc at 4.1955. The benchmark palm oil contract for the December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 1pc at 2,196 ringgit ($523.42) per tonne. It earlier rose as much as 1.4pc to 2,206 ringgit, its highest levels since September 23.

“Dalian exchange oils are higher today and the trade talks between the United States and China are now faltering,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader, referring to palm and soyoil on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange.

While the tensions between the world’s two largest economies showed little sign of slowing, traders say that China — the world’s top soybean importer — has shunned the US market for a second growing season, which in turn resulted in higher demand for palm oil.

The January palm oil contract on the Dalian exchange rose 1.1pc on Wednesday, while the January soyoil contract on the Dalian exchange was up 2pc.

In other related edible oils, US soyoil futures on the US Chicago Board of Trade was last traded up 0.3pc. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2019