KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest in nearly two weeks on the first trading day of 2019, after world's largest edible oil importer India announced import tax cuts, amid expectations of a fall in production. Palm oil output in Malaysia, the second largest producer of the vegetable oil, seasonally declines in the first few months of the year after peaking in the previous quarter. Malaysian shipments of refined palm oil, however, will be taxed at 45 percent compared with 54 percent earlier. In other related oils, the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1 percent and the Dalian January palm oil contract gained 2.3 percent. Palm oil prices are impacted by changes in soyoil prices, as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oil market.

Source: The Star January 02, 2019 22:41 UTC