Malaysian palm oil price rises on Ramadan demand, bullish stockpile forecasts

The palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 0.82 percent to 2,568 ringgit a tonne, its highest since May 19, 2014, before settling down 0.6 percent 2,531 ringgit ($610.62) per tonne. Traded volume stood at 48,968 lots of 25 tonnes each.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian benchmark palm oil futures rose on Monday, supported by improved demand and forecasts that stockpiles will drop on falling production ahead of a data release from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

    A Reuters poll forecasts Malaysian stockpiles in April will decline as production slumps versus a year ago. Malaysian end-stocks may drop 3.5 percent to a 14-month low of 1.82 million tonnes in April, in the absence of a sharp seasonal jump in output, the poll showed. Output is forecast to rise 8 percent to 1.32 million tonnes from March, but decline 22 percent year-on-year.