July 27, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 30, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Wednesday because of profit-taking and sluggish demand for palm products.

The market was holding firm after good export numbers yesterday but today there was some selling, which is mainly due to profit-taking, one dealer said.

The benchmark third-month October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed down 11 ringgit at 1,565 ringgit ($425) a ton.

Other contracts fell between seven and 12 ringgit a ton. Overall volumes stood at 12,453 lots of 25 tons each.

Exports of Malaysian palm products for July 1-25 stood at 968,714 tons, up 7.4 per cent from the 901,923 tons shipped between June 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports of palm products for July 1-25 rose 12.4 per cent from 849,560 tons shipped during the same period in June.

Product demand is a bit slow, which I think is just a temporary situation, another dealer said.It will pick up soon as this is the buying season. In the physical market, crude palm oil for August shipment saw sellers at 1,530 ringgit a ton and bids at 1,525 ringgit a ton. Trades were done at around 1,520 ringgit a ton.—Reuters