Palm oil futures hit a near three-week high on Thursday on the back of firmer grains complex and crude oil, despite growing stocks in No 2 producer Malaysia. "The external markets and euro debt woes are in play in the market, it's not the demand-supply fundamentals that moves the trade," said a trader in Kuala Lumpur. "People are looking at the global factors rather than historical data."
The benchmark September crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives settled up 2 percent to 3,144 ringgit ($1,041) per tonne after going as high as 3,145 ringgit - a level unseen since June 24.Overall traded volume stood at 31,401 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Palm oil products have widened their discount to soyoil to around $170 a tonne - the highest since November 2008 - potentially drawing in demand and reining in stocks from hitting a record so soon. Malaysian palm oil stocks hit an 18-month high in June.
India's vegetable oil imports of mostly palm oil in June rose by 30 percent to 862,550 tonnes compared to the previous month, a leading trade body said on Thursday, the third straight monthly rise and slightly above the average forecast in a Reuters poll.
Cargo surveyors will issue July 1-15 Malaysian palm oil export data on Friday. US crude turned positive on Thursday as the dollar weakened further, while ICE Brent slipped ahead of its expiry and on concerns over further global economic slowdown. Higher crude lifted other vegetable oils.
US soyoil for August delivery edged up in Asian hours, extending a strong weather-related rally, while the most traded May 2012 soyoil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.9 percent. Chicago corn and wheat were steady on Thursday, after a strong rally in the last two sessions drove prices to a 4-week top, supported by bullish fundamentals and the possibility of more US Federal Reserve stimulus.