KUALA LUMPUR, May 13: Malaysian palm oil futures closed lower on Monday after the government gave a higher estimate for carry-forward stocks of crude palm oil (CPO) in the current month against projections by crop analyst Ivan Wong.

The benchmark third-month July futures, which had risen nine ringgit by lunch-break, surrendered all gains by the close, ending five ringgit down at 1,248 ringgit ($328) a ton.

Volume was a heavy 2,660 lots.

The official Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said just as the market broke for lunch that closing stocks in April were at 1.06 million tons, against Wong’s projections of 1.04 million.

MPOB said crude palm oil output for last month was at 863,120 tons, against Wong’s estimates of 858,000.

The crop agency said exports in April were at 861,537 tons, against Wong’s predictions of 870,000.

The MPOB’s numbers all point to a higher carry-forward stock of CPO in the current month, said a dealer. This is bearish.

Traders said the market was looking forward to export estimates for May 1-15 from cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance on Wednesday.

Until then, we’ll be depending on CBOT for direction, said a dealer, referring to the Chicago Board of Trade and its soy market, which always moves in step with palm oil.

In physical palm oil, the May/June contract for the southern and central regions saw bids at 1,250 ringgit a ton, against sale offers at 1,255 — down five ringgit from Friday.

For May, business was reported at 1,260-1,250 ringgit in the southern region and 1,262.50-1,255 in the central zone.

June south was traded at 1,260-1,255 ringgit while June central deals at 1,260-1,255.—Reuters