March 20, 2002	Wednesday	Muharram 5, 1423

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19: Malaysian crude palm oil futures extended falls on Tuesday as nervous dealers liquidated positions ahead of March 1-20 export data.

Cargo surveyor SGS reported a rise in Malaysia’s palm oil exports in March 1-15 compared with the same period in February, but the data showed meagre increases in intake by main buyers India, China and Pakistan.

SGS and another surveyor, ITS, are scheduled to release data for the first 20 days of March on Wednesday.

At the close, the new benchmark third-month June contract ended 11 ringgit lower at $307.63 a ton after trading as high as 1,176 ringgit.

Volume was heavy at 2,770 lots. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said last week the country has grain reserves of 250 million tons 50 million tons higher than the figures given by Chinese officials last year.

The market has expected China to release licences for importers to buy palm oil later this month after Beijing released this year’s import quotas totalling 2.4 million tons, up from last year’s 1.4 million.

In physical palm oil, the March contract for the southern and central regions saw bids at 1,160 ringgit a ton versus offers at 1,165. Trade was reported at 1,160 for both sides. The April contract for south and central saw bids at 1,165 ringgit against offers at 1,175.—Reuters