KUALA LUMPUR, April 23: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed marginally lower on Monday as prices of rival soybean oil declined and players booked profits.

Traders said the market awaited fresh leads, including the next update on exports from cargo surveyors.

The benchmark third-month July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 10 ringgit at 2,169 ringgit ($634) a ton after hitting an intra-day low of 2,162 ringgit.

There is a growing feeling that prices have been a little too high, said one dealer. It has been difficult to trade so players have taken profit and are waiting for new leads.” The most active July contract fell 51 ringgit or 2.3 per cent on Friday as players booked profit.

But the market has gained around to 9 per cent this year after surging 40 per cent in 2006 on the back of demand from the biodiesel and food sectors.

Other traded contracts fell between 10 and 31 ringgit, except for November and other distant months which were up. Overall volume stood at 11,869 lots of 25 tons each.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-20 jumped 30.6 per cent to 806,154 rom 617,142 tons shipped between March 1 and 20, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports during the period rose 32.3 per cent to 789,644 tons from 596,774 tons shipped between March 1 and 20.—Reuters