August 01, 2007	Wednesday	Rajab 16, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31: Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell 1.1 per cent on Tuesday as players booked profits after four straight days of gains, but losses were limited by healthy export growth, traders said.

The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended down 28 ringgit, or 1.1 per cent, at 2,608 ringgit ($756) per ton.

Other traded months fell between 20 and 36 ringgit. Overall traded volume slipped to 8,788 lots of 25 tons each from 12,000 lots that usually change hands on a routine day.

Definitely it's profit-taking, emerging after prices rose for four days, one dealer said. Exports are still fine so the market is supported by this factor. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in July rose 9.3 per cent to 1,084,062 tons from 991,620 tons shipped in June, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Another surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance data said exports in the same period rose 8.3 per cent to 1,090,916 tons.

Exports of palm oil have begun to rise after slow sales in June, as buyers across Asia lock in supplies for festivals such as the Chinese mid-Autumn festival and the holy month of Ramazan, both due in September.

Palm oil is nearly 6 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in early 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 was untraded while the December contract was up 2.6 per cent to $767.75 per ton with only one contract traded by 1105 GMT.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for August shipment in Malaysia's southern region was quoted at 2,715/2,725 ringgit a ton. Deals were done at 2,720/2,750 ringgit.—Reuters