April 02, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1429

JAKARTA, April 1: Indonesian palm oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, jolted by a big drop in Malaysian crude palm oil futures, as traders turned cautious after recent volatility.Crude palm oil prices at the state marketing centre in Jakarta fell about 8 per cent to 8,115 rupiah ($0.880) a kg, from 8,835 rupiah on Monday.

Producers in North Sumatra’s Medan sold crude palm oil at 8,090-8,130 rupiah a kg, down from 9,040 rupiah last week.

There are not many players in the market.

Traders are cautious because the Malaysian market has become difficult to monitor now, said a dealer in a plantation firm in Medan, where Belawan port, the key port for palm oil exports, is located.

Malaysian crude palm oil dived on Tuesday as prospects for a build-up in global vegetable oil supplies weighed on the market.

The benchmark June contract ended down 216 ringgit to 3,179 ringgit ($997) a ton.

In Jakarta, refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein —used as cooking oil — was offered at 9,000 rupiah a kg, down from 9,450 rupiah on Monday. But buyers bid 8,500 rupiah. Buyers are not interested in buying.

They have bought cooking oil at higher prices so now, they are trying to sell the oils before prices go down, said a cooking oil dealer for a Jakarta-based refiner that sells non-branded cooking oil for distributors.

There was no price quotation for crude palm oil on the export front, reflecting cautious mood. —Reuters