JAKARTA, Sept 29: Malaysian palm oil futures dropped more than 5 per cent on Monday amid losses in crude oil and demand concerns.

The benchmark December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 121 ringgit, or 5.23 per cent, to 2,192 ringgit a ton.

The price of the tropical oil used in production of soap and biofuel has dropped nearly 29 per cent this year.

Crude oil dropped $3.76 to $103.13 a barrel in electronic trade.On a daily basis, we can say that a lot of influence has been coming from weaker crude oil as well as soyabean prices, said Ben Santoso, an analyst at DBS Vickers in Singapore.

He said traders were also concerned over Malaysian palm exports as global demand slows, while a lower export tax rate may have made Indonesian palm more attractive.

I think the port of origins might have shifted from Malaysia to Indonesia for some buyers. That might have contributed to the drop in Malaysian palm exports, he said.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Sept 1-25 fell 14 per cent to 981,637 tons from 1,141,494 shipped between Aug. 1 and 25, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Thursday.—Reuters