June 17, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1427

NEW DELHI, June 16: Malaysian crude palm oil futures shed early gains to close lower on Friday for the fourth straight day on fears that declining exports will push up stocks, dealers said.Gains in soyaoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade had helped palm oil prices to rise by midday.

The benchmark third-month September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange closed 1 ringgit down to 1,464 ringgit ($402) a ton. It had risen by 3 ringgit in morning trade.

Exports of Malaysian oil palm products for June 1-15 stood at 486,593 tons, down 7.8 per cent from the 527,713 tons shipped in the same period in May,

cargo surveyor Societe General de Surveillance said on Thursday.

Traders said they had expected exports of around 600,000 tons during the period.

Malaysia's crop agency MPOB said on Monday that output of palm oil in Malaysia, the world's largest producer of the commodity, stood at 1,391,347 tons in May, up 6.14 per cent from April.

Exports for May totalled 1,168,641 tons, down 5.64 per cent from April, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, also the industry's regulator, said.

Stocks of palm oil at the close of last month totalled 1,573,407 tons, up 3.61 per cent from end-April, MPOB said.—Reuters