KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13: Malaysia’s palm oil futures were firm at the close on Tuesday, aided by the US Department of Agriculture’s market-friendly data on 2002 soy output, traders said.

The benchmark third-month October contract was 14 ringgit higher at 1,467 ringgit ($386.05) a ton after touching a high of 1,475 ringgit.

Volume was heavy at 3,390 lots.

One dealer in Jakarta said sluggish CBOT soy screen trade and talk that main buyers such as India and China were waiting for prices to fall before taking fresh positions had limited gains.

The market didn’t go up like crazy despite the friendly USDA data because the screen trade didn’t move that much. I think prices are already too high. That’s why buyers are buying palm oil hand-to-mouth, said the dealer.

Crude palm oil was sold at $390 a ton FOB Indonesia last night. But we couldn’t find any buyers today even though we had reduced the offer price to $387.50, he added.

In its latest monthly supply/demand report, the US Department of Agriculture on Monday estimated the 2002/03 US soyabean crop at 2.628 billion bushels, below the average analyst estimate of 2.722 billion and 9 per cent below last year’s estimated US soyabean crop of 2.891 billion bushels.

The USDA lowered its average US soyabean yield estimate to 36.5 bushels per acre, reflecting damage from dry, hot July weather. Last year’s yield was seen at 39.6 bushels per acre.

In the physical market, August/September crude palm oil for the southern and central zones saw bids at 1,470 ringgit a ton against sale offers at 1,475 ringgit.

Trades were reported at 1,465 to 1,470 ringgit for August/September (south and central).—Reuters