Malaysian palm oil futures closed at an eight-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by sharp gains in rival oils, though a slightly stronger ringgit and worries over demand from India capped gains.
The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 0.3% higher at 2,323 ringgit ($554.95) per tonne, after rising to their highest in 16 months at during the session.
Strength in soyaoil and palm oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, coupled with a weaker ringgit, outweighed worries around a boycott by Indian buyers, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader told Reuters.
But the ringgit last edged slightly higher towards the end of the session, up 0.02% against the dollar, limiting gains.
Dalian's January palm oil contract rose 1.7%, while the January soyaoil contract climbed 0.7%.
Elsewhere, US soyaoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.3%.
Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for share in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm slipped to as low as 2,263 ringgit in the previous session after India's top vegetable body asked its members to stop buying the edible oil from Malaysia over Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's comments on Kashmir.
Some Indian traders said refiners had already stopped buying Malaysian palm oil for shipment in November and December, fearing higher import taxes or other measures.
Tokyo rubber jumps to 5-week high
TOKYO: Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures jumped to a 5-week high on Wednesday as an outbreak of a fungal disease in top producer Thailand raised supply concerns.
The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for March delivery finished 4.6 yen, or 2.8%, higher at 170.4 yen ($1.57) per kg, marking the biggest one-day percentage gain since early June. It touched the highest since Sept. 18 of 171.4 yen earlier in the session.
A key rubber tree-growing area in Thailand has been hit by an outbreak of a fungal disease, which could halve the area's output, the country's rubber authority said on Monday.
The world supply of natural rubber fell 8.3% to 5.853 million tonnes in the first half of 2019 from the same period a year earlier, while the world demand increased 0.8% to 6.933 million tonnes, the ANRPC said on its website.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery ended steady at 11,840 yuan ($1,674) per tonne. China's new technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract was last down 35 yuan at 10,015 yuan per tonne.
TOCOM's TSR 20 futures contract for April delivery closed unchanged at 148.9 yen per kg
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for November delivery last traded at 131.1 US cents per kg, down 0.1%.
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