Palm oil hits 11-day high, buoyed by export data

JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil climbed for a fourth straight session on Monday, boosted by strong export data and as financial market jitters eased slightly after last week's volatility.

The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 1.8 percent at 3,070 Malaysian ringgit ($1,023) per tonne. Earlier, prices touched 3,083 ringgit, the highest level since Aug. 4.

Traded volumes for the contract were 9,786 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to 9,934 lots on Friday.

"The market is very strong on the back of good export data," said a Kula-Lumpar based trader. "Also on external factors, with soybean and Dalian up and palm oil following."

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for August 1-15 rose 27 percent to 953,852 tonnes from 752,047 tonnes shipped during July 1-15, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Malaysia is the world's number two producer of palm oil -- used in products such as food, cosmetics, tyres and biofuels -- after Indonesia.

In comparable markets, US soybeans for November delivery rose, while the most active May 2012 soyoil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange also climbed higher.

Last week, benchmark palm oil prices slipped below the psychological 3,000 ringgit level, on worries that the unfolding US and euro zone debt crisis will stall global economic growth and cloud the commodity demand outlook.

On Monday, however, US crude rose after data from the United States and Japan helped ease worries over a looming recession, encouraging investors back into riskier assets.

US retail sales posted their biggest gains in three months in July, although this was partly overshadowed by a slump in consumer confidence, a report on Friday showed.

"It is down to good export numbers and anticipation of lower crop for the month of August," said a second Kuala Lumpur based palm oil trader.

Copyright Reuters, 2011