KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19: Malaysian crude palm futures rose 1.6 per cent on Monday as financial players took up new positions after crude and rival soyaoil markets chalked up gains in Asian trade, traders said.

The market also awaited export estimates for the first 20 days of November due to be unveiled by cargo surveyors Societe General de Surveillance and Intertek Testing Services on Tuesday.

Palm oil, used in products ranging from chocolates and cosmetics to biofuels, was just 2.1 per cent off the record high of 3,013 ringgit reached two weeks ago.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 46 ringgit at 2,950 ringgit ($875) a ton.

After last week’s profit-taking, there was some good breathing space to take up positions, said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

Crude oil and soyaoil’s rise overnight and today have given that excuse to come back into the market. Other traded months rose between 26 and 49 ringgit. Overall trade stood at 6,889 lots of 25 tons each, almost half the volume traded on a routine day.

Oil climbed towards $95 a barrel on Monday, as the dollar fell and some Opec members pushed for action to stem their declining purchasing power.

December soyaoil closed 0.16 cent per lb higher at 44.82 cents, after climbing to more than 45 cents. The contract was up 0.30 cent at 45.08 cents per lb in electronic trading during Asian hours.

Palm oil and soyaoil usually track movements in the crude oil market because of growing demand for both commodities as feedstock for biodiesel.

Palm oil is up nearly 48 per cent this year and demand from the food and biodiesel sectors have not quite eroded yet.

Exports are holding there very firmly as buyers are trying to secure supplies after the market has eased a little from record prices, said a trader with a local brokerage.

In Malaysia’s physical market, crude palm oil for November shipment in the southern region was quoted at 2,955/2,960 ringgit a ton. Trades were done between 2,950 and 2,955 ringgit.—Reuters