Palm ends higher on strength of rival oils, lower Indonesia output

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose as much as 3.35pc on Thursday, gaining for a second day tracking a rally in rival soyoils, while lower Indonesian production also lifted sentiment.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 30 ringgit, or 1.12pc, at 2,718 ringgit ($649.00) a tonne.

"Palm was on a roll this morning at the back of the rally in soyoil on CBOT and Dalian. This was despite the ringgit rising sharply," said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics.

Unconfirmed reports of China restocking with 2 million tonnes of soyoil boosted contracts, traders said.

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

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract gained 4.39pc, while its palm oil contract was up 3.64pc. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.25pc.

The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, rose 0.07pc against the dollar, making the edible oil more expensive for holders of foreign currency.

Output in Indonesia, the world's biggest producer of palm oil, fell 8.9pc to 23.5 million tonnes in the first half of the year due to drier weather, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association said on Wednesday.