Malaysia palm oil jumps over 2% on higher US soyoil prices

SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures jumped 2.5% on Wednesday, extending the previous session's gains, tracking soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade which was boosted by supply concerns.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 82 ringgit, or 2.5%, to 3,348 ringgit ($827.89) a tonne by midday.

It had ended 0.7% higher on Tuesday.

"Prices are tracking higher external markets again," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader told Reuters. Soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 2% on Tuesday on worried about tightening US and global soyoil supplies and spillover strength from a 4% jump in corn futures.

Rains disrupted harvest in Brazilian soybean-growing areas, slowing down field work in the world's largest soy producer and potentially delaying the planting of the country's second corn crop, pushing Chicago soybean oil up 1.2%.

Meanwhile, Dalian Commodity Exchange's most-active soyoil and palm oil contracts both jumped 2%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may break a resistance at 3,300 ringgit per tonne, and rise into a zone of 3,348-3,381 ringgit, Reuters analyst Wang Tao said.