Indonesia crude palm oil prices up

28 Jul, 2007

Indonesian crude palm oil prices rose on Friday, supported by gains in Malaysia, a weakening rupiah and strong demand from local refiners. At the state marketing centre in Jakarta, crude palm oil jumped 1.5 percent to 7,404 rupiah ($0.811) from 7,293 rupiah a kilogram on Thursday.
Some 3,000 tonnes of crude palm oil that the centre offered were sold to local refiners, reflecting strong local demand. There was no auction in North Sumatra's Medan, the leading port for crude palm oil export on Friday.
On Thursday, sellers offered crude palm oil at 7,280 rupiah a kilogram without any trade-taking place. In Jakarta, cooking oil rose nearly 2 percent to 7,850 rupiah a kilogram from 7,700 rupiah a kilogram on Thursday.
"Cooking oil prices are up, lifted by gains in Malaysia and also a weaker rupiah. Supplies of cooking oil are a bit limited recently due to higher crude palm oil prices," said an olein trader in Jakarta.
Malaysian palm oil futures climbed 0.6 percent on Friday as the ringgit continued to weaken and strong crude oil prices supported the market with the benchmark October contract up 15 ringgit to 2,583 ringgit a tonne.
The rupiah fell to its lowest level in 4.5 months, shedding 1.3 percent to 9,240 per dollar, as investors unwound their holdings of risky, high-yielding assets after turbulence in broader credit and stock markets. A weaker rupiah against the dollar makes the commodity traded in dollars more expensive in local currency terms.
On the export market, crude palm oil for August shipment was offered at $795 a tonne, up nearly 2 percent from $780 on Thursday. Buyers bid at $780 a tonne without any deals reported. Crude palm oil for September shipment was offered at $785 a tonne, up 3.28 percent from $760 on Thursday but buyers did not bid.

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