BANGKOK, April 20: Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose on Thursday following a higher-than-expected export estimate, dealers said.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Thursday it estimated exports of Malaysian oil palm products for April 1-20 at 796,109 tons, up 10.9 per cent from the 717,915 tons shipped between March 1 and 20.

Later in the day, cargop surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said Malaysia exported 766,044 tons of oil palm products between April 1 and 20, up 8 per cent from the 708,345 tons shipped between March 1 and 20.

The market saw some buying at low levels, a Malaysian dealer in Kuala Lumpur said.

The benchmark third-month July crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives in Kuala Lumpur ended up eight ringgit at 1,479 ringgit ($404) after trading as low as 1,474 ringgit. Volume was 6,651 lots of 25 tons. Other traded months were up between four and ten ringgit.

Dealers said the market would move in a narrow range on Friday with immediate resistance at 1,490 ringgit.

It will also depend on how soyaoil is acting tonight. Hopefully, it’ll go up again. It’s gone up in the past three days continuously, another dealer said.—Reuters