September 26, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 13, 1428

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25: Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended 0.7 per centlower on Tuesday as dealers shrugged off strong export growth to book profits a day after the market hit a near four-month high.

But strong gains in the rival soybean oil market limited losses, traders said.

The benchmark December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 20 ringgit, or 0.7 per cent, to 2,655 ringgit ($773) a ton.

The market is in a profit taking mood because it has been overbought since Dorab Mistry’s bullish forecast, said one trader.

The strong growth in exports is what everyone expected because of the festivals, so there was no excitement there but the strength in Chicago soybean oil is limiting the downside. Other traded months fell between 1 and 25 ringgit in overall trade of 8,691 lots of 25 tons each.

This is just a pause for the market, because prices are definitely going to go much higher on Mistry’s comments and soyaoil is very strong,” said another trader.

Global palm oil prices may reach 2,600-3,000 ringgit per ton shortly as demand is likely to surpass supply and rival soyaoil is also expected to rise sharply, top industry analyst Mistry said on Sunday.

Soyoil prices would soon scale up to $900 per ton and might touch $1,000 per ton, Mistry told a conference in the Indian state of Goa. Soyaoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rallied on Monday, following the moves in Malaysian palm oil to a near four-month top on a bullish price forecast.

CBOT soyaoil closed 0.31 to 0.50 cent per lb higher, with December up 0.32 cent at 39.84 cents. In Asian trade on Tuesday, the contract rose slightly to 39.92 cents a pound by 1015 GMT.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept. 1-25 rose 12.4 per cent to 1,100,300 tons from 979,164 tons shipped between Aug. 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Tuesday.

Another surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance said exports in the same period rose 11.9 per cent to 1,076,053 tons.

Palm oil, in high demand for making sweetmeats and other delicacies during the current festival season in Asia, is just 4 per cent off an historic high of 2,764 ringgit reached in June.

December palm oil on Singapore’s Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange was untraded by 1015 GMT.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for September shipment in the southern region was quoted at 2,700/2,710 ringgit a ton. It traded between 2,700 and 2,710 ringgit.—Reuters