KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30: Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed 1.8 per cent in quiet trade on Thursday as prices of rival soybean oil lifted the market ahead of an independence day holiday.

The market also awaited an announcement from the Indonesian government on a cooking oil export tax.

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 42 ringgit, or 1.8 per cent, to 2,420 ringgit ($691) per ton.

Trade volumes are low, suggesting that the holiday mood has taken over, said one trader. But there is some positive activity happening since soybean oil has been on the rise due to the overnight jump in crude oil. Tha Malaysian palm oil market will be closed on Friday to mark the country's independence.

On the other hand, players are waiting by the sidelines for the Indonesian export tax announcement over the weekend so that the demand and supply situation can be assessed, said another trader.

Other traded months rose between 19 and 38 ringgit. Overall volume fell to 7,310 lots of 25 tons each from around 12,000 tons that change hands on a routine trading day.

Palm oil, used in products ranging from confectioneries and cosmetics to biofuels is more than 12 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June.

The crude oil market often lends support to vegetable oils,

including palm and soybean, because of their growing use in making biodiesel, which competes with petroleum diesel.

Indonesia plans to scrap a 10 per cent value-added tax on

crude palm oil sold to cooking oil processors and peg a tax on palm oil exports to global prices to ease local cooking oil prices, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said on Wednesday.

The Investor Daily newspaper quoted Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla as saying the government would introduce the policies on Sept. 1.

In mid-June, the government increased the export tax for crude palm oil to 6.5 per cent from 1.5 per cent and the export tax on palm oil by-products to 6.5 per cent from 0.3 per cent.

November palm oil on Singapore's Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange was untraded by 1030 GMT.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for September shipments in Malaysia's southern region was quoted at 2,500/2,520 ringgit a tons. Trades were done at 2,500 ringgit.—Reuters