JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday and logged a second consecutive week of gains, as a surge in crude oil prices amid the Middle East conflict boosted demand for biodiesel feedstock.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 23 ringgit, or 0.51percent, at 4,564 ringgit (USD1,159.26) a metric ton by the close, and rose 4.51percent for the week.
The weekly advance was underpinned by a more than 9percent surge on Monday, the biggest daily jump in three years. Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract advanced 0.53percent, while its palm oil contract rose 0.62percent. Soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade lost 0.55percent.
Palm oil tracks the price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Oil prices extended their climb on Friday and were on track for weekly gains as disruptions in the Gulf from the Middle East war outweighed US and International Energy Agency measures to ease supply concerns. Meanwhile, APROBI, Indonesia’s biofuel producers association, expects a road test for 50percent palm-based biodiesel blending, or B50, to be concluded no earlier than the energy ministry’s previous target of June or July.
Indonesia’s crude palm oil output reached 51.66 million metric tons in 2025, up 7.3percent compared to the previous year, palm oil association GAPKI said.
India’s palm oil imports jumped 11percent to a six-month high in February, as a wider discount versus rival oils prompted refiners to boost purchases and curb imports of sunflower oil.
Malaysia has raised its April crude palm oil reference price, a change that lifts the export duty to 9.5percent, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed.
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