KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose 2pc on Monday after falling sharply last week, as rival soybean oil prices firmed and the ringgit weakened but worries about demand from top edible oil buyer India persisted.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 64 ringgit, or 2.3 per cent, to 2,902 ringgit ($714.87), its biggest jump in six sessions.

Palm oil fell 9.5pc last week, its largest weekly decline since November 2008, dragged down by India’s import restrictions on the refined product and an export tax hike.

The market opened higher on Monday but sentiment was not too bullish due to the “absence of Indian buying, indications of more than anticipated recovery in production, and reduction in export pace”, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oil broker Sunvin Group.

He said a sudden change in the production and export scenario raised concerns whether palm oil stocks would fall below 2 million tonnes at the end of January.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2020