November 15, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 22, 1427

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed mixed on Tuesday, due to lack of trading opportunities as the market awaited next update on palm oil exports.

The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia

Derivatives exchange finished down 5 ringgit at 1,689 ringgit ($464) a ton after trading in a range of 1,685 and 1,705 ringgit.

The market was swinging widely, there is not much of news at the moment, said one dealer.

Overall volume stood at 13,261 lots of 25 tons each. The market closed marginally higher at midday on the back of firm soyaoil prices and a seasonal decline in production.

Malaysia's palm oil output is expected to decline in the coming months because of widespread rains during the monsoon season which began this month.

The state-run Malaysian Palm Oil Board said last week that stocks at the end of October fell 11.44 per cent and output was down 13.03 per cent. It said exports during the month jumped 9.13 per cent.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov 1-10 rose 0.8 per cent to 487,580 tons from 483,583 tons during Oct 1-10, according to ITS.

SGS, whose data is closely watched by the industry, said exports during the period rose marginally to 451,440 tons.—Reuters