27/12/2022 (The Edge Markets) - Palm oil posted its biggest advance since July as China's decision to end quarantine for inbound visitors buoyed expectations that demand in one of the world's top consumers of edible oils will improve.

China will no longer subject inbound travellers to quarantine from Jan 8, 2023, putting the country on track to emerge from three years of self-imposed global isolation under a Covid Zero policy that battered the economy and stoked historic public discontent.

Demand for edible oils should rise in China in the run-up to the Lunar New Year festivities in late January, said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, head of trading and hedging strategies at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental. "The Covid situation is still not that good on the ground in China, but the country is also concerned about its economic conditions."

The abrupt shift from Covid Zero policy in China is resulting in rising cases of infections, which will keep domestic demand unstable in the short term, said Sathia Varqa, owner of Palm Oil Analytics in Singapore.

Palm oil futures climbed 7.2% to close at RM4,104 a ton in Kuala Lumpur, the highest close in more than three weeks. Other commodities including crude oil also gained.

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