Palm oil climbs

Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose to their highest level in over a month, boosted by dry weather concerns in South America, but the prospect of slowing demand due to Europe's economic woes led the contract to close lower. Hamburg-based oilseeds analyst Oil World cut its forecast for the 2012 soybean crops in drought-hit Brazil and Paraguay, and prospects of lower production supported palm oil prices, which tracked soybean oil closely.
But export trends in No 2 producer Malaysia pointed to declining demand for the vegetable oil and investors were wary that an uncertain outlook for Greece could further cut commodity consumption in Europe. "There's a slight consolidation after yesterday's rise," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. Benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased 0.3 percent to close at 3,197 ringgit ($1,054) per tonne. Prices hit an intraday high of 3,213 ringgit, a level last seen on January 12.
Traded volumes stood at 23,479 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly thinner than the usual 25,000 lots. Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said Malaysian palm oil exports from February 1 to 15 fell 14 percent to 509,107 tonnes from a month ago, indicating a slowdown in the pace of export compared to the first 10 days of the month. Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance reported a similar 14.2 percent decline to slightly less than 500,000 tonnes for the same period. The US soyoil contract for March delivery inched up 0.3 percent in Asian trade while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange lost 0.3 percent. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT.