KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Thursday, dragged down by profit-taking after cargo surveyors announced strong exports data. But traders said the market is unlikely to decline much because of strong buying from traditional customers and biofuel plans.

Funds have started taking profit after the news, said one dealer. But the market is unlikely to go down much. The benchmark third-month October crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives market closed down 22 ringgit at 1,655 ringgit ($452) a ton. It was up six ringgit at the midday break.

Other traded months settled down between seven and 22 Ringgit. Volumes stood at 16,369 lots of 25 tons each.

Exports of Malaysian oil palm products for August 1-10 stood at 469,977 tons, up 32pc from 356,093 tons shipped between July 1 and 10, said cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance, whose data is closely watched by the market. Another cargo surveyor, Intertek Testing Services, said exports during the first 10 days of this month rose 17.7pc to 458,949 tons from the 389,861 tons shipped in July 1-10.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for August shipment saw sellers at 1,630 ringgit a ton and bids at 1,625. Trades were done between 1,635 and 1,650 ringgit a ton.—Reuters