Palm oil rises

Melbourne : Malaysian palm oil futures edged up in early trade on Wednesday, as expectations of lower production in December and easing weakness in export demand supported the market.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.3 percent to 2,529 ringgit ($620.92) a tonne at the midday break. Trading volumes stood at 12,487 lots of 25 tonnes each.

"This month, production will be down, but the question is how much," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader.

Malaysian palm oil shipments fell 2 percent on Dec. 1-20 compared with the same period last month, data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services showed.

The fall compares with a steep 16.6 percent decline seen in the first ten days of December, against the same period in November.