Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest in over a month on Thursday evening, charting a fourth consecutive day of gains, tracking strength in related edible oils on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange. Forecasts of falling production also lent support, traders said. A Reuters poll had forecast production to fall to 1.62 million tonnes in June, down 2.1 percent from the previous month. End-stocks however are seen up 0.2 percent to 1.56 million tonnes, while exports are likely to drop 8.2 percent to 1.38 million tonnes on-month.
The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.9 percent at 2,561 ringgit ($596.00) a tonne at the close of trade. It earlier climbed to 2,563 ringgit, its highest since May 26. Traded volumes stood at 42,267 lots of 25 tonnes each. "The market is up on Dalian strength. There is also short-covering on production figures," said a futures trader based in Kuala Lumpur.
June data for Malaysia's palm oil inventories, production and exports is scheduled for release by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board on July 10. September soyabean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.8 percent, while the September palm olein contract rose 1.7 percent. In other related oils, soyabean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.4 percent. Palm oil may briefly touch a resistance at 2,551 ringgit per tonne before reversing its uptrend and falling towards 2,522 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.