KUALA LUMPUR: Mal­a­­ysian palm oil futures rose over 1 per cent on Friday evening, rising to a two week high, backed by gains in related edible oils such as soyoil on the US Chicago Board of Trade, and as export demand remains firm.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 1.4pc at 2,523 ringgit ($644.12) a tonne at the close of trade, its strongest daily gain since the start of the year.

It earlier rose to an intraday high of 2,538 ringgit, its highest levels since Feb 12, and was up 0.6pc for the week.

Trading volumes stood at 44,727 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day. “Soyoil is higher... Exports from Malaysia in March are also expected to be good,” said a trader from Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian palm oil shipments have been rising in February compared to the previous month.

Shipments rose 8-9pc in the Feb 1-20 period versus the corresponding period in January, according to data from cargo surveyors.

Data for the February 1-25 period is scheduled for release on Monday after 0300GMT.

In other related oils, the Chicago Board of Trade’s March soybean oil contract rose 0.4pc, in line with gains in soybean futures as severe drought in parts of Argentina’s oilseed producing regions is expected to hit production.

The May soybean oil on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.6pc, while the Dalian May palm oil contract was up 1.9pc.

Palm oil prices are impacted by rival edible oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018