October 04, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 10, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3: Malaysian crude palm oil futures finished sharply lower on Tuesday, dragged down by weak crude oil prices and a decline in exports.

The benchmark third-month December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange ended down 1.5 per cent or 24 ringgit at 1,534 ringgit ($416) a ton after trading in a range of 1,531 to 1,550 ringgit.

Exports have come down in September, and October is going to be worse, said a dealer. The market is likely to come down further, unless crude oil goes up.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept stood at 1,294,859 tons, down 3.3pc from the 1,339,032 tons shipped in August, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said at the weekend.

Palm oil stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's top producer of the commodity, are expected to reach a record high in September as exports stagnate amid rising production, a Reuters poll showed last week.

Palm oil is increasingly tracking crude oil prices because of the rapidly expanding global bio fuel industry based on vegetable oils, which is seen as a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels.

In the physical crude palm oil market, October shipments were quoted at 1,517.50/1,525 ringgit a ton.—Reuters