May 30, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended lower on Monday, with sentiment soured by rising production, lower exports and a slightly firmer ringgit currency.

Volumes were healthy despite an absence of electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade due to the US Memorial Day holiday. There was also no open outcry session on the CBOT.

Production is up and exports haven’t been very good, so the market’s a bit depressed, said a trader.

The benchmark third-month August contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives fell 9 ringgit to 1,437 ringgit ($396.0) a ton. June was down 13 ringgit at 1,413 ringgit.

Overall volumes stood at 5,604 lots of 25 tons each. Volumes average above 6,000 lots on a busy day.

A stronger ringgit makes Malaysian exports more competitive. The ringgit firmed about 0.3 per cent to 3.629 per dollar on Monday.

Last week, cargo surveyors Societe Generale de Surveillance and Intertek Testing Services said exports of Malaysian oil palm products for May 1-25 fell 12.8 per cent and 16.6 per cent, respectively, from a month earlier.

Export numbers for the whole of May are due on Wednesday.

On Friday, soyaoil ended firm, with July up 0.02 cent at 25.11 cents per lb.—Reuters