Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged higher on Friday, rising 3.6 percent in a second straight weekly gain as global oilseed supply fears and rising export demand supported prices. "The market is trying to catch up with soyoil, especially as its premium over palm oil is at more than $250 per tonne," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
The benchmark November 2012 contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.3 percent to close at 3,069 ringgit ($990) per tonne. Prices hit a high of 3,100 ringgit on Thursday, a level last seen on July 17. Futures notched up a gain of 3.6 percent this week, the best weekly performance since July. Total traded volumes stood at 26,872 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Malaysia's palm oil exports rose 6 percent for the August 1-20 period from a month ago, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services, on higher shipments to major food buyers China and India. Traders will be watching for further indications on export trends as another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, releases its August 1-20 data together with August 1-25 data on Monday.
Planters are also concerned by a possible return of El Nino to South East Asia as the hot and dry weather pattern could hurt oil palm yields for major producers Indonesia and Malaysia. Other vegetable oil markets also traded higher on persistent US dry weather fears. By 1003 GMT, the most active US soyoil contract for December delivery gained 0.7 percent and the most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up 0.8 percent.
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