August 11, 2007	Saturday	Rajab 26, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended 0.8 per cent lower on Friday, weighed down by lower prices of rival soybean oil and a strong build-up in reserves.

Traders said the palm oil market ignored the fall in global markets sparked by a flare-up in credit jitters, and focused instead on demand and supply fundamentals.

The benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 20 ringgit, or 0.8 per cent, at 2,515 ringgit ($724) per ton, after hitting an intraday low of 2,479 ringgit.

This market is not so influenced by the problems in the global equities and credit markets, said one trader. If anything is pulling down prices, it's because production has jumped so high in July.

The only other market currently having an influence is soyabean oil, which fell overnight, pulling palm oil along,” said another trader.

Other traded months fell between 11 and 35 ringgit. Overall trade slipped to 8,798 lots of 25 tons each from around 10,000 or 12,000 lots that change hands on a routine trading day.

Malaysia's crude palm oil output rose 16.34 per cent to 1,356,967 tons in July from a revised 1,166,370 tons a month earlier, official crop agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Friday.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for August 1-10 surged 15.2 per cent to 378,014 tons, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday, but traders say it is not enough to cut swelling stocks.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance said exports in the same period rose 20.1 per cent to 374,913 tons.

Asia's vegetable oil demand for the festival season has risen, with buying from South Asia and the Middle East for the holy month of Ramazan, due in September.—Reuters