KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures scaled to a near three-weak peak on Thursday, extending gains for a third straight session, driven by prospects of stronger demand after top buyer India allowed imports of refined palm oil and cut tax on the commodity.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 115 ringgit, or 3.20%, to 3,714 ringgit ($893.54) a tonne.

Palm rose to an intraday high of 4.5% and closed at its highest since June 11. The contract fell 8.2% last month, its biggest monthly decline since April 2020.

India on Wednesday declared that the import of refined palm oil is amended from "Restricted" to "Free," allowing imports of the product for six months.

Earlier this week, the country also cut the import tax on refined palm oil to 41.25%. Indonesia has set a lower reference price in July for crude palm oil at $1,094.15 a tonne, an official document seen by Reuters showed on Wednesday. Dalian's most-active soyaoil contract rose 3.4% and its palm oil contract gained 4.2%.