KUALA LUMPUR: The crude palm oil (CPO) futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed at an all-time high of RM5,667 a tonne for the April contract.

Singapore-based Palm Oil Analytics owner and co-founder Sathia Varqa said the price surged following news of the CPO import duty cut by India to 5 percent from 7.5 percent.

“This stoked expectation of higher inbound CPO shipments to India, and with Indonesia’s export restrictions measures in place, the prospect for Malaysia CPO export is looking up, fuelling palm futures to surpass previous record high,” he told Bernama.

Besides, he said the stronger soybean oil performance on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also provided a fillip to the local market.

At the close today, the CPO futures contract for February added RM135 to RM5,935 a tonne, March 2022 rose RM108 to RM5,817 a tonne, April 2022 gained RM87 to RM5,667 a tonne, May 2022 increased RM82 to RM5,499 a tonne, June 2022 was RM76 higher at RM5,326 a tonne, and July 2022 improved RM79 to RM5,170 a tonne.

Total volume decreased to 67,606 lots from last Friday’s close of 72,103 lots, while open interest advanced to 272,818 contracts from 272,630 contracts previously.

The physical CPO price for February rose RM90 to RM5,950 a tonne. – Bernama

Source : The Star