Malaysian palm oil futures surged to their highest in six weeks on Friday evening, charting a fifth straight session of gains, on expectations of dwindling stockpiles and improved exports. The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.9 percent at 2,224 ringgit ($544.16) a tonne at the close of trade. It earlier rose 1.4 percent to 2,235 ringgit, its highest since Feb. 25.
Palm is up this week by 5.6 percent, a second weekly gain in three. A futures trader in Kuala Lumpur said the market jumped in the evening on expectations of higher exports in April.
Palm oil futures had risen this week on expectations that March data from industry regulator, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, to show a decline in inventory levels.
Malaysia's palm oil stockpiles are likely to have dropped during March to its lowest level in five months, according to a Reuters survey, as a hefty jump in exports outpaced production gains.
March inventories are expected to have fallen 6.4 percent from February to 2.85 million tonnes, the lowest since October 2018, while exports are pegged to come in at 1.63 million tonnes, a 23.4 percent rise from the previous month.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is scheduled to release March data on April 10.
Malaysian palm oil stockpiles rose to their highest in nearly two decades in December, and last increased unexpectedly in February by 1.3 percent to 3.05 million tonnes.
In other related oils, the Chicago May soyabean oil contract was up 0.2 percent. Palm oil prices are affected by movements in soyaoil, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.