KUALA LUMPUR, April 9: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed lower on Friday, weighed down by a retreat in the prices of rival soyoil in Chicago overnight.

Traders said players were also unwinding positions ahead of export estimates for the first 10 days of April.

But supportive crop data from private forecaster Ivan Wong helped limit losses. In his latest report issued on Friday, Wong maintained his earlier estimate of Malaysian palm oil output in March at 950,000. But he lowered end-March stocks estimate by 10,000 tons to 920,000 tons.

The benchmark third-month contract on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, June, ended down 22 ringgit at 1,915 ringgit ($503.95) a ton, off an intraday low of 1,905. Other traded contracts fell between 17 and 26 ringgit.

Overall volume increased to 3,839 lots from Thursday's 2,210 lots. On Saturday, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services will release its palm oil export estimates for April 1-10, while Societe Generale Surveillance Malaysia Sdn Bhd, another cargo tracker whose figures are more closely watched by the market, will issue its estimates for the same period on Monday.

Also on Monday, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release official output/stocks/exports figures for March. It will be clearer after Monday when all these reports are out. The export numbers, in particular, will be key to market direction, said one trader.

Chicago Board of Trade soyoil futures closed sharply lower on Thursday, pressed by the drop in soyabeans and disappointing weekly export tally. Soyaoil futures through January 2005 ended 0.80 to 0.64 cent per lb lower, with May down 0.79 at 31.88 cents.

The US market is closed on Friday for a holiday. In physical crude palm oil trading, the April contract saw bids/offers at 1,985/1,995 ringgit a tonne in the southern region, against Thursday's close of 1,995/2,000. Trades were done at 1,995-1,985. The April contract for the central region was bid/offered at 1,980/1,990 ringgit. Trade was reported at 1,980. -Reuters