Crude palm oil futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended firmer yesterday as palm oil stocks took a nosedive to a 10-month low in June 2010 while exports rose, dealers said.

According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, June stocks fell by 7.1 per cent to 1.45 million tonnes from the previous month while exports rose 1.44 million tonnes with demand coming in from India and China.

“We expect the market to maintain its momentum,” said one of the dealers.

The July 2010 contract closed RM10 higher at RM2,440 a tonne, August 2010 and September rose RM40 each to RM2,384 and RM2,340 respectively, and October 2010 increased RM34 to RM2,321 a tonne.

Volume, however, declined to 15,201 lots from 17,049 lots last Friday but open interest rose to 73,512 contracts from 72,569 contracts previously.

On the physical market, July South finished RM10 higher at RM2,440 a tonne.

Source: Business Times