JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a second straight session on Friday on bargain hunting amid a recovery in rival oils, ending the week with modest gains.
The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange jumped 3.41% to close the day at 3,910 ringgit ($921.95) per tonne, adding to Thursday’s 0.75% gain.
Palm gained 0.46% for the week.
Palm advanced on continued bargain buying, while the market eyed the narrowing discount with competing oils, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.
“The uptick came following a recovery in CBOT soy oil futures overnight and in crude oil prices,” he said.
Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.51%, their best in over a week and extending a 0.40% gain overnight. The Dalian exchange is closed this week for the Lunar New Year celebration.
Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices edged higher for a second straight session, buoyed by stronger-than-expected US economic growth and hopes of a rapid recovery in China demand.
Higher crude oil prices make palm oil more attractive as an alternative source of biodiesel feedstock.
Malaysia maintained its February export tax for crude palm oil at 8% and raised its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Thursday.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Jan. 1-25 fell 28.4% to 876,193 tonnes from a month earlier, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Thursday.
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