Malaysian palm oil gains

Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose 0.6 percent on Friday as the ringgit continued to weaken and soaring crude oil prices supported the market. Palm oil prices also were helped by expectations of better exports in the coming months, traders said.
The benchmark October contract on the Bursar Malaysia Derivatives Exchange finished up 15 ringgit, or 0.6 percent, to 2,583 ringgit ($747) per tonne. "Palm oil is moving higher mainly because the ringgit has really weakened," one trader said. "Also, crude oil has remained above $75 a barrel making palm bodiless a feasible alternative."
Other traded months rose between 17 and 25 ringgit. Overall traded volume was 6,474 lots of 25 tonnes each. The Malaysian ringgit took a hit on Friday, falling almost 1 percent to 3.468 per dollar, a one-month low.
A weaker ringgit against the dollar makes ringgit-based palm oil cheaper for overseas buyers. Oil steadied above $75 on Friday, supported by the fundamentals of energy supply and demand and shrugging off immediate worries over corporate borrowing costs and the US economy that roiled stock markets.
London Brent crude gained 23 cents to $75.41 a barrel, after ending $1.14 lowers on Thursday. US crude rose 40 cents to $75.35. Crude oil often lends support to vegetable oils, including palm and soyabean, because of their growing use in making bodiless, which competes with petroleum diesel.
Exports of palm oil have begun to rise after slow sales in June, as buyers across Asia lock in supplies for festivals like the Chinese mid-Autumn festival and the Muslim holy month of Ramazan, both due in September. "Festive demand for edible oils over the next few months will support palm oil futures," said another dealer.
Palm oil is only around 6 percent off a historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June on robust demand from top importers India and China and dwindling supplies at home.
October palm oil on Singapore's Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange was unthreaded. In the physical market, crude palm oil for July shipment in Malaysia's southern region was quoted at 2,690/2,695 ringgit a tonne. Deals were done between 2,680 and 2,690 ringgit a tonne.