July 26, 2007	Thursday	Rajab 10, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25: Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged lower on Wednesday, weighed down by the Indian government's admission that import duty cuts on the commodity were less than previously announced, traders said.

But further losses were limited as cargo surveyors showed a strong rebound in exports.

The benchmark October contract on the Bursa

Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 4 ringgit at 2,521 ringgit ($736) per ton, after touching an intra-day low of 2,504 ringgit.

There is a slight disturbance in the market because of this import duty mix up but this is not a very significant change, said one trader.

Better export numbers are holding up the market. India said on Wednesday that customs duty on crude palm oil imports had been cut to 45 per cent, not 40 per cent as the government had announced on Tuesday.

Other traded months fell between 5 and 24 ringgit, except for March 2008 and September 2008 contracts, which fell.

Overall trade slipped to 9,286 lots of 25 tons each from 12,000 lots that get traded on a routine day.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for July 1-25 rose 9.5 per cent to 899,668 tons from 821,500 tons shipped between June 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Wednesday.

Another surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports rose 12.1 per cent to 936,720 tons in the same period.

Exports needs to make a huge impact since production has started to increase significantly, said another trader.

Palm oil exports have begun to pick up after slow sales in June as buyers lock in supplies for festivals like the Chinese mid-Autumn festival and the holy month of Ramazan, both in September.

Global palm oil output in 2008 is likely to rise 10 per cent to 41.7 million tons from an estimated 37.9 million tons in 2007 and weigh on prices.

Palm oil is nearly 9 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June on robust demand from top importers India and China and dwindling supplies at home.

October palm oil on Singapore's Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange climbed $8 to $747 a ton with distant months moving up in quiet trade by 1049 GMT.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for July shipment in Malaysia's southern region was quoted at 2,625/2,635 ringgit a ton. Deals were done between 2,620 and 2,650 ringgit a ton.—Reuters