Malaysian palm oil up

Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed nearly half a percent up on Thursday as data from cargo surveyors showed a modest growth in September shipments despite initial fears of a slowdown from August.
Exports of Malaysian oil palm products rose 11 percent in September versus a 7 percent growth in August, the market's leading cargo tracker, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said.
Talk that major palm oil consumers such as India and Pakistan were winding down after buying heftily since August for the Hindu Diwali and Muslim Eid al-Fitr festivals had kept the market on tenterhooks in recent days.
"There's no evidence of that happening yet from what we saw today," said a trader, referring to the SGS numbers. "But there could be a slowdown in October though."
SGS said it tracked 1.33 million tonnes of exports in September against August's 1.19 million tonnes.
It said Indian demand dwindled to 92,795 tonnes this month from 107,950 tonnes in August, but this was offset by shipments to Pakistan, which expanded to 122,180 tonnes from 84,474 tonnes.
The benchmark third-month palm oil contract on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, December, closed seven ringgit, or 0.5 percent, up at 1,413 ringgit ($371.84) a tonne.
Through the day, it hit a high of 1,420 and low of 1,395.
Trade totalled 9,450 lots of 25 tonnes each - a 25 percent jump from Wednesday.
But dealers said they were uncertain if the market could hold above the psychologically-important 1,400 ringgit-a-tonne level due to a lack of supportive leads.
Export numbers aside, players were also watching palm oil production estimates amid worries that stocks could be up sharply from end-August, dealers said.
Private forecaster Ivan Wong has estimated a palm oil production of up to 1.42 million tonnes in September, up from 1.32 million tonnes seen officially in August.
Wong has put stocks at end-September at as high as 1.40 million tonnes, far above the psychological level of one million tonnes. Stocks stood at 1.26 million tonnes at the end of August.
In the physical crude palm oil market, the contract for October saw buyers/sellers at 1,500/1,510 ringgit a tonne in Malaysia's southern and central regions, versus Wednesday's close of 1,500/1,505.
Trades were done at 1,500-1,505 ringgit in the south and 1,500 in the central zone.
Physical palm oil for November saw bids/offers at 1,455/1,470 ringgit a tonne in both the southern and central regions. No trades were reported.
PALM OIL FUTURES:
October (south): 1510.
Open/High/Low: 1405/1420/1395.
Previous close: 1505.
PALM OIL PHYSICALS:
December (3rd month): 1413.
Previous settlement: 1406.
FUTURES:
Benchmark December up 7 ringgit to 1,413 ringgit ($371.84) a tonne after a modest growth in September exports.
PHYSICALS: October offer price up five ringgit.