Palm climbs to one-week high on rising price outlook

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures reversed losses in its second half of trade on Thursday, rising to a one-week peak as sentiment turned bullish on higher price forecasts from an industry conference.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.1 percent to 2,198 ringgit ($534.53) a tonne in the evening, after climbing to a one-week top of 2,200 ringgit.

Trading volumes stood at 29,988 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.

Prices rose following price forecasts from an industry conference in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya on Thursday, said a Kuala Lumpur-based futures trader.

Crude palm oil prices are expected to rise to between 2,200 and 2,300 ringgit ($559) per tonne by June on a seasonal decline in stocks, said industry analyst Julian McGill from commodities consultancy LMC International.

McGill also added that moves by Indonesia and Malaysia to increase the palm oil mix in biodiesel will reduce stockpiles.

Palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer, is forecast to rise to 20.3 million tonnes this year, said the director-general of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board at the conference.

Average palm oil prices are also seen rising to over 2,500 ringgit a tonne this year, said another MPOB official.

In other related oils, the Chicago March soybean oil contract was last up 0.4 percent and the May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1 percent.

The Dalian January palm oil contract declined 0.5 percent.

Palm oil prices are impacted by movements in soyoil rates, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.