May 20, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1427

BANGKOK, May 19: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down on Friday in step with rival US soyaoil as the prospects of weaker exports in the first 20 days of May weighed on prices, dealers said.

The benchmark third-month August crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives in Kuala Lumpur fell six ringgit to 1,452 ringgit a ton ($402) after trading as high as 1,460 ringgit.

The market was awaiting May 1-20 palm oil exports data due on Monday, with some dealers expecting weak numbers due to slow demand. Other traded months settled down two to six ringgit. Volume was 6,896 lots of 25 tons each compared with Thursday’s 4,873 lots.

Societe General de Surveillance (SGS), one of the two cargo surveyors the industry watches, said last Monday Malaysia exported 527,713 tons of oil palm products between May 1 and 15, down 1.6 per cent from the 536,334 tons shipped between April 1 and 15.

The other, Intertek Testing Services, said exports of Malaysian oil palm products for May 1-15 were 508,214 tons, down 14.6 per cent from the 595,255 tons shipped between April 1-15.

The Malaysian market was expected to move in a narrow range on Monday with immediate resistance at 1,480 and support at 1,440, dealers said.—Reuters