Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed up 1.7 percent on Thursday, lifted by strong export estimates from cargo surveyors and higher prices of crude oil.
Exports of Malaysian oil palm products for October 1-25 rose 10 percent to 1,229,198 tonnes from the 1,115,370 shipped between September 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, whose numbers are closely tracked by the industry, said exports rose 7.4 percent to 1,178,379 tonnes during the period. "Export numbers have surprised the market and crude oil is also holding above $61," said one dealer. The benchmark third-month January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives finished up 1.7 percent or 27 ringgit at 1,650 ringgit ($450) a tonne.
Other traded contracts closed higher between 18 and 27 ringgit. Overal l volume stood at 11,027 lots of 25 tonnes each. Oil eased slightly but remained comfortably above $61 on Thursday after a surprise drop in US crude stocks and more evidence of Opec cuts triggered the biggest one-day gain in 7 months the previous session. US crude was down 7 cents at $61.33 a barrel by 1047 GMT, giving up some of Wednesday's 3.5 percent surge.
Palm oil is increasingly tracking crude oil prices because of the rapidly expanding global biofuel industry based on vegetable oils, which is seen as a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels. In the physical crude palm oil market, November shipment was quoted at 1,592/1,597.50 ringgit a tonne. Trades were done between 1,592 and 1,595 ringgit.