SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures surged for a third straight session to hit a 16 month-high on Thursday, supported by expectations that exports in October could be higher than a month earlier.

The benchmark palm oil contract for January delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 2.6% higher to 2,382 ringgit($569.45) per tonne.

It reached as high as 2,408 ringgit per tonne in the session.

“There is a rumour going on that exports of Malaysian palm oil had risen 10% in the October 1-25 period from the same period in September,” a Kuala Lumpur-based trader told Reuters.

Independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia is set to publish export numbers for Oct.1-25 on Friday.

Palm prices were also helped by more expensive rival oils.

Dalian’s January palm oil contract last traded 1.1% higher on Thursday, while the January soyoil contract was up 0.7%.

Elsewhere, U.S. soyoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade traded 0.9% higher on Thursday.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for share in the global vegetable oils market. However, capping gains was the ringgit trading 0.1% higher against the dollar, making the edible oil more expensive for holders of foreign currencies. – Reuters

Source : The Star