KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended gains on Monday evening, recording a fourth straight day of wins tracking higher crude oil prices and stronger export data from cargo surveyors.

The benchmark palm oil contract price for January delivery on the Bursa Mala­ysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.2 per cent at 2,762 ringgit ($655.20) a tonne at the close of trade. It earlier rose to a daily high of 2,766 ringgit, the best level since Sept 27.

Traded volumes stood at 44,760 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. “The market is probably up on crude oil,” said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, adding that higher exports and expectations of slowing output growth supported the market. Palm oil shipments from Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer after Indonesia, rose in the first-half of October, up 10.3pc from the corresponding period last month, showed data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS).

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017