KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended 0.7 per cent higher on Tuesday, just shy of a seven-week high hit the day before as rival soybean oil and crude oil markets rose in Asian trade.

The most-active December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 19 ringgit, or 0.7 per cent, at 2,609 ringgit ($748) a ton.

On Monday, the contract rose to 2,619 ringgit ton, a level not seen since Aug. 1.

Palm oil does not show any immediate sign of retreating because the soyaoil and crude oil prices are just going higher and higher, said a trader. The slightly rise in exports have no bearing today. Other traded months rose between 17 and 25 ringgit in overall trade of 8,633 lots of 25 tons each.

US crude was up 38 cents to $80.95 a barrel after hitting a record peak of $81.24 and following a $1.47 jump on Monday.

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.

Palm oil, used in making sweetmeats and other delicacies during current festive season in Asia, is just 5.6 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept. 1-15 rose 10.7 per cent to 631,096 tons from 570,107 tons shipped between Aug. 1 and 15, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports in the same period rose 2.2 per cent to 601,562 tons.

Pakistan has bought about 140,000 tons of palm oil for September shipment to meet strong demand during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but imports are likely to decline later, an industry official said on Tuesday.

The South Asian nation, which has emerged as a big importer of palm products because of higher soyaoil and oilseed prices, is expected to buy up to 300,000 tons of palm oil between October and December, Rasheed Jan Mohammed, vice-chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners’ Association, said.

Malaysian palm oil output rose 14.83 per cent to 1.6 million tons in August and reserves increased by 10.95 per cent to 1.45 million tons, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

December palm oil on Singapore’s Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange was untraded with the January contract rising 1.1 per cent to $759.50 a ton with only five contracts traded.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for September shipment in the southern region was quoted at 2,640/2,645 ringgit a ton. Trades were done between 2,640 and 2,645 ringgit.—Reuters