February 8, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 9, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Tuesday, weighed down by weaker prices of rival US soyaoil. Traders expect activity to remain light until Friday’s release of crop and export data.

The benchmark third-month crude palm oil on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, April, ended down 2 ringgit at $388.06 a ton, after trading within a narrow 8-ringgit range. Overall volume stood at 4,238 lots of 25 tons each, down from Monday’s 4,717 lots.

Two cargo surveyors watched by the market will also issue export estimates for February 1-10 on the same day.

March soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade closed 0.09 cent lower on Monday at 22.57 cents per lb, with the back months down 0.03 to 0.15 cent.

In physical trade of crude palm oil, February quotes stood at 1,435/1,440 ringgit a ton in Malaysia’s southern and central regions. Trades were reported at 1,430-1,435 ringgit for both regions.—Reuters