Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest in a month on Monday evening, charting a fourth day of gains after supportive export data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange surged 1.2 percent to 2,543 ringgit ($645.92) a tonne at the close of trade, its strongest daily gain in two weeks.
It had earlier touched 2,555 ringgit, the highest level since January 15. Trading volumes stood at 38,579 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.
"The market is up on the strong export data," said a futures trader from Kuala Lumpur, referring to MPOB export data released during the midday break. Malaysian exports in January unexpectedly surged past output levels, rising 6 percent from the previous month to 1.5 million tonnes, the data showed. This reduced stockpiles by nearly 7 percent month on month to 2.5 million tonnes.
Production, meanwhile, was down 13.5 percent at 1.6 million tonnes. Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services also showed Malaysian palm oil shipments rose February 1-10, up nearly 15 percent from the corresponding period last month, while Societe Generale de Surveillance reported a 10.6 percent rise.
In related edible oils, the March soyabean oil contract on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 1 percent, while May soyabean oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.1 percent. The Dalian May palm oil contract was up 1.1 percent.
Palm oil prices are affected by rival edible oils that compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market.