Palm oil gains for third session, tracking crude and Dalian

Malaysian palm oil futures rallied for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, propelled by surging crude oil prices and gains in comparable edible oils on the Dalian market. The December palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 17 ringgit, or 0.36%, to 4,699 ringgit ($1,151.72) per metric ton. A trader explained that the FCPO is currently mirroring the performance of Dalian and crude oil prices.

Oil prices ticked upward on Wednesday following an assault on the Saudi Arabian state oil company's headquarters. Meanwhile, officials from Iran disclosed to Reuters that they were implementing novel tactics to target ships, aiming to maintain high oil prices and sway the US midterm elections. Palm oil becomes a more appealing choice for biodiesel feedstock due to the higher crude oil futures.

On Dalian, the top-soyoil contract climbed 0.71%, while the palm oil contract increased by 0.98%. Soy oil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade experienced a minor uptick of 0.03%. Palm oil follows the price fluctuations of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Malaysia adjusted its November crude palm oil reference price, a move that maintains the export duty at 10%, as revealed on Wednesday through a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website.

Malaysia's palm oil inventories in September jumped to 3.51 million metric tons as production surged to an all-time high, surpassing market forecasts and reaching levels once deemed improbable. Cargo surveyors estimated that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for October 1-10 grew between 33.5% and 37.7% compared to the previous month. The ringgit, palm's trade currency, strengthened by 0.1% against the dollar, making the commodity slightly costlier for purchasers with foreign currencies.