KUALA LUMPUR, April 16: Malaysian crude palm oil futures jumped 2.3 per cent on Monday to hit new eight-year highs, boosted by A big increase in exports and India's decision to cut palm import tariffs.

The benchmark third-month July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 50 ringgit, or 2.3 per cent, at 2,250 ringgit ($654) a ton.

It rose as much as 4 per cent to a session high of 2,288 ringgit, a level not seen since December 1998.

Exports are beyond expectations, this kind of exports will further pressure supplies, said a dealer. At this rate stocks will drastically come down. Other traded months rose between 31 and 58 ringgit in overall trade of 19,984 lots of 25 tons each.

Traders said palm oil, which has gained about 13 per cent this year, could retreat in coming days.

I expect a technical correction in the next few days since the resistance level for the benchmark month seems to be at 2,290 ringgit, said a trader at a leading plantation house.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-15 rose 47 per cent to 666,793 tons from 454,791 between March 1 and 15, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports during the period rose 29.3 per cent to 642,492 tons from a month ago.

India on Friday cut the customs duty on palm oil, both crude and refined, by 10 per centage points to cut prices and help tame inflation, a finance ministry official said. Malaysian palm oil prices surged 40 per cent in 2006, boosted by biodiesel demand, and analysts expect the market to rise around 20 per cent this year.

Malaysia's end-March palm oil stocks fell 10.6 per cent to 1.34 million tons while exports jumped almost 30 per cent during the month and production failed to keep pace, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said last Tuesday.

Malaysia's exports are picking up after months of slowdown because of strong demand from the world's top buyers, China and India.

Traders said Malaysian refiners in the southern and central regions were facing shortages due to a sharp decline in imports from neighbouring Indonesia.

They estimated Malaysia's palm imports from Indonesia in January and February slipped to around 37,000 tons from about 300,000 during the same months in 2006.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for April shipment in the southern region was quoted at 2,310/2,320 ringgit a ton.

Deals were done between 2,290 and 2,310 ringgit.—Reuters