VEGOILS Palm climbs on firmer rival oils, supply shortages

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Malaysian palm oil futures gained on Tuesday to their highest in two weeks, buoyed by strength in rival Chicago and Dalian oils as well as supply shortages.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 3.56% at 4,768 ringgit ($1,141.08). The contract has risen for a fifth session in six.

Dalian’s soyoil contract gained 1.23%, while its palm oil contract rose 1.32%. Soybean oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade for May delivery climbed 1.41%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

A Kuala Lumpur-based trader said there was buying interest given the supply shortages and supportive fundamentals.

“There is palm oil shortage due to the floods. On ground, this sentiment is strong,” he said, adding that better exports together with strength in rival oils also helped the contract.

The market has been expecting a softer December output due to harvest disruptions after floods two weekends ago affected eight states in Malaysia.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Dec. 1-25 rose 0.2% to 1,338,255 tonnes from 1,336,125 tonnes shipped during Nov. 1-25, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Monday.

($1 = 4.1785 ringgit)

Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Vinay Dwivedi and Uttaresh.V

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