BMD Crude Oil Palm Futures jump 3.2pc

Malaysian palm oil futures jumped 3.2 per cent yesterday, bouncing from one-week lows hit the previous day after crude oil rose to another one-year high above US$78 a barrel.

Palm oil’s 4.5 per cent gain this week will see more selling opportunities for producers who have stayed away for some days, waiting for the market to consolidate, traders say.

The ringgit easing to 3.37 per dollar may prompt more refiners to buy locally-priced crude palm oil to manufacture refined by-products that are sold overseas using the US dollar.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivative Exchange settled up RM67 to RM2,178.

“There is some short covering going on as crude oil’s gains have lifted much of the vegetable oil complex and this will continue into the next session since we are approaching the weekend,” said a trader with a local commodities broker.

Malaysian exports for October 1-15 have risen above 590,000 tonnes, some 10-12 per cent higher than the same period a month ago, cargo surveyors say.

Oil retreated from a year-high above US$78 a barrel today but vegetable oil markets were still pricing in the gains made earlier in the day.

The most active May 2010 soyoil on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange, which leads Asian vegetable oil markets, climbed 1.8 per cent.

US soyoil for December delivery rose 0.3 per cent in Asian trade with gains limited by good progress in harvesting and improving weather.