Palm oil gains for second straight session on crude prices

Business Recorder reported that Malaysian palm oil futures climbed for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as crude prices kept rising. Trading on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange saw the November benchmark close 33 ringgit higher, or 0.68 per cent, at 4,883 ringgit ($1,196.08) per metric ton. Trading pauses on Wednesday because of a national holiday and resumes on Thursday, September 17.

Crude climbed more than 2 per cent after assaults on Saudi energy facilities halted the East-West pipeline. Anilkumar Bagani, research head at Sunvin Group, said palm futures were rising in step with energy gains, while expected tightness next year from Indonesia's B50 biodiesel mandate and a possible El Niño production cut added support. Higher crude also makes palm a more appealing feedstock for biodiesel.

Dalian's most-active soyoil fell 1.07 per cent and its palm contract shed 0.46 per cent, while Chicago soyoil gained 0.58 per cent. Cargo surveyors put the fall in Malaysian palm oil product exports for September 1 to 15 at 17.8 to 25.6 per cent compared with a month earlier. Imports of palm oil by India rose 7 per cent in August compared with July, reaching 782,761 metric tons, according to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India. The ringgit, in which palm is traded, slipped 0.21 per cent to the dollar, leaving the commodity less expensive for overseas buyers.