Malaysian palm oil rises

Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed 1.1 percent on Tuesday, supported by sturdier crude and soyoil markets although expectations of slower exports in the second half of March weighed on sentiment. The global benchmark for palm oil in Malaysia, the second largest producer of the vegetable oil after Indonesia, has dropped 57 percent from a record 4,486 ringgit last year as recession sapped demand and made stocks balloon.
But a spurt of buying in the first two months of the year lifted prices, leading traders to say that palm oil gains outpaced soyoil. "Good export numbers are so yesterday, there will be positive growth but it will be small," said a trader with a foreign commodities broker. "Crude oil and soyoil are just giving palm prices a little push." The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 20 ringgit to 1,922 ringgit ($523.8) after going as high as 1,940 ringgit.
Other traded months rose between 5 and 37 ringgit. Overall volumes jumped to 15,564 lots of 25 tonnes each from the usual 10,000 lots. Exports rose by as much as a fifth to above 550,000 tonnes for March 1-15, cargo surveyors reported on Monday but traders expect to pace of growth to halve in the second half of March.
Oil dipped to $47 a barrel on Tuesday, giving up some of the previous sessions gains on renewed signs of economic deterioration in the United States, the worlds largest fuel consumer. US soyoil delivery for July crept up 0.2 percent while the most-active May soybean oil contract on Chinas Dalian Exchange was up 1.1 percent.
INDONESIA PALM TRADES In Indonesia, the Jakarta-based state marketing centre said it sold the entire 5,500 tonnes of palm oil it offered at 7,300 rupiah ($0.610) per kg, against 7,298 rupiah ($0.609) per kg on Monday. The worlds top palm producer will start phasing out its palm oil tender at the state marketing centre [OILS/TEND] from July and shift physical trade to an exchange in order to create the countrys own benchmark price, an official said on Tuesday.
Producers in Medan - home to Belawan port, Indonesias main palm oil export port - sold palm oil at 7,280-7,320 rupiah per kg. Meanwhile, refiners in Jakarta offered refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, used as cooking oil, at 7,650 rupiah, unchanged from Monday. In the Malaysian physical market, palm oil for March were quoted at 2,040-2,050 ringgit per tonne in the southern region. Trades were done between 2,030 and 2,050 ringgit.