Kuala lumpur: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended higher on Thursday, continuing their upward trend in response to the rally in crude oil prices.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, David Ng, a proprietary trader at Iceberg X Sdn Bhd, noted that the rise in crude oil prices has enhanced the competitiveness of vegetable oils, particularly palm oil, in biodiesel production, which in turn has boosted market sentiment. At the time of this report, Brent crude oil had increased by 7.03%, reaching US$98.45 per barrel. Ng highlighted that prices are supported above RM4,500 per tonne, with resistance observed at RM4,650 per tonne.

Meanwhile, Anilkumar Bagani, the commodity research head at the Mumbai-based Sunvin Group, remarked that the positive performance of CPO is aligned with the bullish momentum of soybean oil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade. Bagani also mentioned that the resurgence in energy prices and discussions around the feasibility of Indonesia's B50 biodiesel mandate have contributed to strengthening CPO prices. However, he cautioned that the absence of destination markets and unexpectedly higher palm oil production growth in the first ten days of March 2026, despite the Ramadan season, may slow the pace of gains in CPO futures.

At the market's close, the contracts for March, April, and August 2026 each increased by RM40 to RM4,425, RM4,511, and RM4,480 per tonne, respectively. The May 2026 contract rose by RM42 to RM4,541 per tonne, while the June and July 2026 contracts both added RM43 to reach RM4,536 and RM4,514 per tonne, respectively. Trading volume expanded to 137,656 lots from 94,388 on Wednesday, and open interest grew to 229,441 contracts from 224,565 contracts previously. The physical CPO price for March South increased by RM60 to RM4,500 per tonne.