09/03/2011 (The Star Online) - Palm oil futures may track the volatility in crude oil prices as unrest in the Middle East spreads and weather uncertainties continue.

“If you go back to when palm oil was seen as a food crop, it was very stable, no volatility but once you get plugged in to the energy sector, you never know,” Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd chief executive officer Chong Kim Seng told Bloomberg recently.

“The dynamics of oil is so ‘political’, anything can happen, it’s going to be volatile,” he said.

Crude oil reached US$106.95 per barrel on Monday , the highest in two and a half years amid continued political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Palm oil futures for May delivery was lower at press time yesterday at RM3,584 per tonne.