Palm oil on the European vegetable oils market rose on Friday with Malaysian palm oil futures on news that Malaysia was extending zero tax on crude palm oil exports to the end of April. Asking prices for palm oil were between unchanged and $5 a tonne higher after Malaysian palm oil futures rose between 30 and 40 ringgit.
The tax reduction to zero on crude palm oil exports was introduced at the beginning of the year and would last for three months until April 7, after that date Malaysia was expected to set the tax at five percent. At 1600 GMT, CBOT soyaoil futures were between 0.20 and 0.29 cents per lb down on concerns of an escalation in the trade war between the United States and China. Weaker energy markets also weighed. EU rapeoil was quoted between one and two euros per tonne lower, following the weaker trend in Chicago soyaoil and because of the dip in energy prices, which could cause less demand for the oil from biodiesel producers.