Palm oil gains on low stockpile speculation

KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil climbed on speculation that a decline in Malaysia's production will trim record stockpiles in the world's second-largest producer.

The contract for February delivery advanced 0.7% to close at 2,313 ringgit ($756) a tonne on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange.

Futures fell 3.1% last week and are heading for a 27% loss this year. Stockpiles in Malaysia climbed 2.3%, a fifth monthly gain, to 2.56 million tonne in November from a month earlier, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Monday.

That was more than the median estimate of 2.5 million tonne in a Bloomberg survey. Output dropped 2.6% to 1.89 million tonne, while exports declined 5.7% to 1.66 million tonne, the board said.