JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures rose for the third consecutive session on Tuesday, helped by short coverings and strength in Chicago soyoil after trading sideways earlier in the day.

The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 41 ringgit, or 0.96%, to 4,308 ringgit ($906.57) a metric ton at closing.

The contract traded between 4,224 ringgit and 4,308 ringgit on Tuesday.

A Kuala Lumpur-based trader said the contract rose in the afternoon session due to short covering as “prices been holding quite well at 4,250 ringgit levels in the second session”.

Malaysian palm oil futures higher

Strength in Chicago soyoil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil and a weaker ringgit are also lending support to the contract, the trader said.

WTI crude futures for May rose $1.30, or about 1.6%, to $85.01 at 0912 GMT. A stronger crude oil makes palm oil more attractive for biodiesel feedstock.

India’s palm oil imports hit a ten-month low in March at 481,000 tons, as the top vegetable oil buyer increased sunflower oil imports amid lower prices traders said.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March were seen rising between 11.77% and 29.2%, cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services, AmSpec Agri Malaysia and Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) said.

The soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.51%, while the palm oil contract was up 0.56%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 1.39%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may rise into a range of 4,294-4,326 ringgit per ton, as it has briefly pierced above a falling channel, according to Reuters’ technical analyst Wang Tao.