KUALA LUMPUR, June 14: Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged 0.8 per cent higher on Thursday as strong buying after sharp decline supported the market.

But gains were muted by concerns over falling exports and increased production, dealers said.

The benchmark third-month August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 18 ringgit or 0.8 per cent to 2,368 Malaysian ringgit ($683) a ton after hitting a session high of 2,411 ringgit.

Players are buying into the market since it has been oversold during the last two trading days, said a leading trader. But there are expectations that prices could go lower because production is increasing faster than demand.

Traders said exports for the first 15 days in June, to be announced by cargo surveyors on Friday, are expected to be around 508,000 tons, about 20 per cent lower than the first half of May.

Malaysia's crude palm oil output rose 6.71 per cent to 1,201,255 tons in May from 1,125,726 tons in April, official crop agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board said.

Other traded months rose between 5 and 27 ringgit. Overall trade rose to 15,016 lots of 25 tons from around 12,000 lots that change hands on a routine day.

September palm oil on Singapore’s Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange (JADE) climbed $12.50 to $666.50 a ton.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1 to 10 fell 27 per cent to 339,117 tons from 463,865 shipped between May 1 and 10, Intertek Testing Services said.—Reuters