KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed mostly lower on Tuesday, weighed down by weakness in rival soyaoil prices. Activity was light as players wound down trade ahead of the year-end. The benchmark third-month crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, March, ended unchanged at 1,415 ringgit ($374.44) a ton.

But other traded contracts were down 2 to 3 ringgit.

Overall volume stood at 2,223 lots of 25 tons each, down from Friday’s 6,348 lots. The market was closed on Monday for Christmas.

The futures market has found strong support above 1,400 ringgit since Thursday after rains lashed Malaysia’s northern and eastern regions, sparking floods that raised concerns about output in oil palm plantations.

December is traditionally a period of lower production for Malaysian palm oil, but the present weather could crimp monthly volume by as much as 15 per cent, compared to the initial forecast of 10 per cent, said dealers.

The market could be gearing up to meet a greater resistance of 1,440-1,450 ringgit as the fundamentals are quite supportive, said a trader.

Just three weeks back, the outlook for palm oil looked gloom with stocks of oil in the physical market reaching a record 1.6 million tones as demand cooled after the end of major festivals in Asia.

But Societe Generale de Surveillance, a palm oil cargo tracker closely watched by the industry, said on Tuesday that Malaysian exports of oil palm products for Dec. 1-25 were down just 1.6 per cent from November.

March soyaoil on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.11 cent at 21.50 cents a lb in Tuesday’s electronic session, conducted during Asian business hours.

The contract had lost 0.15 cent at Friday’s close before the Christmas holidays.

Soyaoil and palm oil compete for exports and their prices often move in step.

In the spot market, offers for December and January crude palm oil stood at 1,415 ringgit a ton versus bids at 1,407.50 ringgit. Trades were noted at 1,410 to 1,407.50 ringgit. —Reuters