Palm oil rose to the highest level in almost two weeks before the release of data from Malaysia which may show that inventories dropped to a nine-month low.

The contract for July delivery climbed as much as 1.5 percent to 2,321 ringgit ($777) a metric ton on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, the highest price for most active futures since April 29, and was at 2,310 ringgit at 11:59 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur. Futures have gained 2.6 percent this week.

Reserves in Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer, probably fell 5.1 percent to 2.06 million tons in April, the least since July, a Bloomberg survey published this week showed. Shipments fell 6.5 percent to 1.44 million tons, while output gained 5.3 percent to 1.4 million tons, according to the survey. Official data are due for release at 12:30 p.m.

“The expectations are that stocks will come down, so market will take cue from there,” said James Ratnam, an analyst at TA Securities Holdings Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. “Exports will be the key figure to watch for. There’s still a mixed view there so we’ll have to see how exports perform.”

Exports from Malaysia declined 17 percent to 380,047 tons in the first 10 days of this month from 456,440 tons in the same period in April, surveyor Intertek said today.

Soybeans for July delivery were little changed at $14.0975 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybean oil rose 0.3 percent to 49.37 cents a pound.

Refined palm oil for September delivery gained 1 percent to 6,026 yuan ($981) a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange. Soybean oil advanced 1 percent to 7,436 yuan a ton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ranjeetha Pakiam in Kuala Lumpur at rpakiam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

Source : Bloomberg