KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures extended gains on Monday evening, recording a fourth straight day of wins tracking higher crude oil prices and stronger export data from cargo surveyors.
The benchmark palm oil contract price for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.2 percent at 2,762 ringgit ($655.20) a tonne at the close of trade. It earlier rose to a daily high of 2,766 ringgit, the best level since Sept. 27.
Traded volumes stood at 44,760 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.
"The market is probably up on crude oil," said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, adding that higher exports and expectations of slowing output growth supported the market.
Palm oil shipments from Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer after Indonesia, rose in the first-half of October, up 10.3 percent from the corresponding period last month, showed data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS).
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale Surveillance (SGS) reported on Monday evening a 8.7 percent rise in exports.
Crude oil prices jumped as much as 1.4 percent during trade on Monday as factional fighting in Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, raised concerns over exports.
Palm oil is impacted by movements in crude oil, as the tropical oil is used as feedstock for producing biodiesel, a fuel substitute.
In other related edible oils, the December soybean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade slipped 0.2 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed up to 0.8 percent.
the January palm olein contract was up by 1.3 percent.
Palm's prices are impacted by movements of related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. - Reuters
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