October 31, 2003	Friday	Ramazan 4, 1424

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Thursday, pressured by talk of smaller than expected exports for October, traders said.

A rebound in Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soy futures in Asian trade helped limit losses, they said.

The benchmark third-month futures contract on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange, January, ended down 35 ringgit at 1,795 ringgit ($472.37) a ton, off an intra-day low of 1,777.

Overall market volume shrank to 6,464 lots from Wednesday’s 8,361 lots.

Private crop forecaster Ivan Wong last week estimated Malaysia’s palm oil exports in October at 1.18-1.19 million tons, little changed from the official figure of 1.20 million tons for September.

Traders pegged support at 1,750 ringgit.

In Malaysia’s physical market, November crude palm oil saw bidders/sellers at 1,915/1,920 ringgit a tonne in the southern and central regions. Business was reported in both regions at 1,910 to 1,915 ringgit.—Reuters