Palm oil jumps 3pc

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures gained more than 3% on Friday on the back of tight supplies and stronger exports in April, but the contract logged its first weekly decline in three. The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 120 ringgit, or 3.34%, at 3,710 ringgit ($899.39) a tonne. For the week, palm lost more than 1.7%.

Palm oil exports during April 1-15 rose between 6% and 15% from the same period in March, cargo surveyors said on Thursday. Malaysia on Thursday kept its May export tax for crude palm oil at 8%. Dalian’s most-active soyaoil contract gained 1.7%, while its palm oil contract rose 3.2%.