Palm Oil Extends Gains on Export Data From Malaysia, Indonesia

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures in Malaysia advanced for a second day after data showed increased exports from Indonesia and Malaysia, the two largest producers of the commodity that’s used in foods and fuel.

Malaysian shipments rose 7.9 percent to 813,877 metric tons in the first 20 days of May compared with April, according to a report today from independent surveyor Intertek. Indonesia exported more in April on higher demand from India, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers’ Association said yesterday.

“The export number is good,” said Wilianto Ie, a Jakarta- based analyst at CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. “It shows demand remains very firm” and the global financial crisis “hasn’t really deterred the demand,” Ie said by phone.

Palm oil for August delivery on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, the most-active contract, gained as much as 1 percent to 2,656 ringgit ($748) a ton, and was at 2,633 ringgit at the 12:30 p.m. trading break in Kuala Lumpur. The price has surged about 55 percent this year.

China and India, the biggest cooking oil users, “are still expected to have positive GDP growth,” Ie said. “It means the population is still getting richer compared to last year. It means that demand will still be there.”

Exports from Malaysia for the first four months of the year have advanced 9.8 percent to 5.06 million metric tons compared with the same period in 2008, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

Indonesia shipped 1.22 million metric tons of oil palm products last month compared with 1.18 million tons in March and 1.04 million tons in April last year, Susanto, marketing head of the nation’s producers’ association, said yesterday.

OilWorld Forecast

Palm oil also gained after OilWorld, an industry forecaster, cut its Malaysian production estimate to 17.8 million tons from 18 million tons for the year ending September, according to an AMResearch Bhd. report that cited Malaysia’s Business Times.

Rising demand and tighter-than-expected supplies of cooking oils worldwide will support palm oil prices, Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd., said on May 18. Mistry forecast that palm oil may rise to more than 3,000 ringgit a ton.

September-delivery palm oil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most-active contract, jumped as much as 1.6 percent to 6,810 yuan ($998) a ton, and was at 6,786 yuan at the 11:30 a.m. trading break.

Shares of palm oil-related companies in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore rose today. Wilmar International Ltd., the largest supplier of cooking oils in China, gained as much as 2.9 percent to S$4.68. The stock has gained 66 percent this year, beating the 29 percent advance in the benchmark Straits Times Index.

Golden Agri Resources Ltd., owner of the world’s second- largest oil palm plantation, gained as much as 13 percent to 47 Singapore cents, extending yesterday’s 12 percent jump.

Malaysia’s Sime Darby Bhd., the world’s largest palm oil grower, gained as much 4.5 percent in Kuala Lumpur, and PT Astra Agro Lestari, Indonesia’s biggest plantation stock, rose as much 1.9 percent.