KUALA LUMPUR: Mala­­y­­sian palm oil futures rose to their highest in nearly two weeks on Tuesday, pulling up from three-week lows in the previous session, boosted by a jump in overseas edible oil markets and strong export demand.

Traders said overnight gains in US and Chinese soyoil have paved the way for palm to rise, after Malaysian exports surged in the May 1-25 period.

The US July soyoil contract was up 1.2 per cent in late Asian trade after reopening following the US Memorial Day holiday.

The most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Ex­­change had climbed 1.8pc by 1017 GMT, after rising as high as 5,820 yuan ($938.12). Palm typically tracks rival soyoil, a common food and fuel substitute.

The benchmark August contract on the Bursa Mala­ysia Derivatives ex­­change touched an intraday high of 2,192 ringgit, its highest since May 15, before settling at 2,184 ringgit ($602.32) a tonne by Tuesday’s close — up 2.2pc.

Prices on Monday had dropped to 2,121 ringgit, the lowest level for this month. Total traded volume stood at 36,944 lots of 25 tonnes each, just above the average 35,000 lots.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2015

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