Malaysian palm oil futures rose for a third consecutive session on Wednesday, but the rally may lose steam due to concerns about rising stockpiles, traders said. The benchmark palm oil contract for December delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.37 percent to 2,189 ringgit ($528.87) per tonne for the day.
Palm oil extended its gain from a combined 1.8 percent gain in the previous two sessions, after hitting a three-year low last week. Trading volumes stood at 28,386 lots of 25 tonnes each on Wednesday.
The benchmark rose as much as 0.83 percent during the day to 2,199 ringgit per tonne, its highest since Sept 18, before giving up some of its gain.
Risk of inventory buildup of the vegetable oil used in a wide range of food and cleaning products is putting a cap to its rally. "The market is looking for direction. Exports data from Malaysia look good, but at the same time production is also rising," a palm oil trader in Kuala Lumpur said.
Shipments of palm oil from Malaysia in the Sept. 1-25 period rose 64.2 percent from a month earlier, data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services showed on Tuesday.
In related oils, the Chicago September soyabean oil contract rose 0.67 percent, while the January soyabean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.31 percent. Meanwhile, the Dalian January palm oil contract gained 0.94 percent.