JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures touched a five month peak on Thursday, boosted by robust demand and investor expectations of lower production in key Asian planters due to the onset of the rainy season.
Benchmark January palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange traded 0.6 percent higher at 3,259 Malaysian ringgit ($1,034) per tonne. Prices earlier touched a peak at 3,266 ringgit, a level not seen since June 15.
Traded volumes for the January palm contract were at a near two-month high at 5,715 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with a near two-month high at 19,326 lots on Wednesday.
"Still bullish," said a Jakarta-based palm trader. "Some short-covering came in after the market touched a new high."
"Good exports, lower production ... are also supporting," he added.
Benchmark palm prices have surged almost 20 percent since lows below 2,800 ringgit hit in early October.
Sentiment is improving due to lower production expectations from the fourth quarter, as dominant producers in Indonesia and Malaysia enter the rainy season and the La Nina weather pattern is seen returning.
At the same time, palm oil demand is seen rising in top buyers China and India. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov 1-15 rose, cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance said earlier this week.
Malaysian palm oil is expected to rise to 3,323 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Asian shares and the euro fell further on Thursday as doubts deepened about Europe's ability to stop its sovereign debt crisis from spinning out of control, with the region's biggest nations split over the European Central Bank's bond buying role.
In comparative markets, Brent crude slipped, heading to below $111, on concerns about demand growth, as France and Germany clash over the role the European Central Bank should adopt to rein in the region's sovereign debt crisis.
US soyoil for December delivery was little-changed in Asian trade, while China's most active May 2012 soybean oil contract rose.
"Relatively firm in Q4," said a Jakarta-based palm analyst. "Especially if concerns over Europe debt start to subside."
"Crude's back up above $100 per barrel and everyone is talking about La Nina suppressing production in Malaysian and Indonesia," the analyst added. "If this is the case, could see tightening ... as we head into seasonally low production season."
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