Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, driven by hopes that the strong export performance will continue in August and higher prices of rival soyoil. Exports of Malaysian palm products in July stood at 1,225,495 tonnes, up 11.3 percent from the 1,101,453 tonnes shipped in June, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.
Societe Generale de Surveillance, another surveyor closely watched by the market, said exports rose 11.8 percent to 1,211,764 tonnes in July. "Looking into August, I think exports will continue to increase with good buying coming from China, European Union and Pakistan," one dealer said.
The benchmark third-month October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended up 32 ringgit at 1,673 ringgit ($456) a tonne. The third-month contract has risen more than 6 percent in the last one week. Other contracts rose between 15 and 35 ringgit a tonne. Overall volumes stood at 17,109 lots of 25 tonnes each.
Palm oil output in Malaysia is estimated to fall 2.1 percent to 1.3 million tonnes in July, a Reuters poll last week showed. Traders said dry weather in peninsular Malaysia had hit production. But exports are likely to rise by 9 percent to 1.2 million tonnes in July from the official 1,100,448 tonnes in June, according to the poll of five plantation houses.
Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed firm on Monday due to worries about the US crop, which was under stress from extreme heat in the US Midwest, traders said. August soybeans closed 3 cents higher at $5.79-1/2 per bushel and new-crop November was 1-3/4 higher at $5.99-3/4. August soyoil settled 0.33 cent up at 26.72 cents per lb., with the back months up 0.20 to 0.31.
Soyoil and palm oil are both used in products ranging from food and soap to cosmetics and biodiesel, so prices for the two commodities often move in tandem.
In the physical market, crude palm oil for August shipment saw sellers at 1,630 ringgit a tonne and bids at 1,620 ringgit a tonne. Trades were done at 1,600 to 1,630 ringgit a tonne.