KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures climbed 3% on Friday, hitting more than 8-year highs, on forecasts of tighter November and December supply and bullish outlook from leading analysts. The benchmark palm oil contract for February delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 105 ringgit, or 3.2%, to 3,437 ringgit ($846.97) a tonne, its highest since May 5, 2012.

The contract rose 3% for the week, rising for a sixth week in seven. Malaysia's palm oil inventories in November likely dropped 2% from the previous month to 1.54 million as production fell, a Reuters survey showed. Output is likely to have dropped 10% to 1.55 million tonnes, hitting an eight-month low.

Malaysia's palm oil production in 2020 is likely to be 19.2 million tonnes, with December stocks falling to as low as 1.4 million tonnes, palm analyst Dorab Mistry said in a virtual conference on Thursday. Dalian's most-active soyaoil contract rose 2.7%, while its palm oil contract gained 1.3%.