Indonesian palm oil gained for the fifth straight day on Friday boosted by a rise in soyaoil and crude oil prices and the neighbouring Malaysian palm oil market. At the state marketing centre's auction in Jakarta, which sells palm oil from state plantations, crude palm oil rose to 5,912 rupiah ($0.648) a kilogram from 5,832 rupiah on Thursday.
But there was no auction in North Sumatra's Medan. "There is no jump in demand and there is no problem with production. The jump in prices is because crude oil, soyaoil and Malaysia palm oil are all up today," said a trader in Medan, the key port for palm oil export.
Oil climbed away from $66 on Friday on global supply worries caused by tension centred on Opec member Iran and a strike in France that threatens to crimp summer fuel supplies in the United States. Chicago Board of Trade May soyaoil was up 0.56 cents at 32.97 cents per lb following the strong rally in crude oil markets. In Friday electronic trading, the May contract rose by 0.02 cents at 32.99 cents per lb.
The crude oil market often lends support to vegetable oils, including palm and soyabean due to their growing use in making biodiesel, which competes with petroleum diesel. Gains in crude oil and soyaoil also boosted Malaysia crude palm oil futures to hit fresh eight-year highs with the benchmark third-month June contract finishing up 25 ringgit or 1.2 percent at 2,070 ringgit ($599) a tonne.