KUALA LUMPUR, July 7: Malaysia’s crude palm oil futures were mostly lower on Monday, being deprived of fresh impetus because of last week’s holiday in the United States, dealers said.

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) will resume trading later on Monday. It was closed on Friday for Independence Day.

The physical sector was active because of covering by refiners, with deals reported for nearby CPO and RBD palm olein, but this failed to give support to the futures market.

The benchmark third-month futures contract, September was last traded at 1,417 ringgit ($372.89) a ton, down seven ringgit, after trading as high as 1,430 ringgit.

Overall volume was heavy at 5,693 lots.

Traders said the market was waiting for cargo surveyors ITS and SGS to release their July 1-10 palm oil exports estimates on Thursday.

Some dealers said exports could be higher than the June 1-10 figure by SGS of 373,695 tons because China’s buying interest remained strong. But others were cautious.

People are saying the exports numbers will be good, but I am not so sure, said one dealer in Jakarta. It’s hard to find buyers for olein these days.

In the physical sector, the July CPO contract for southern region was offered at 1,535 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,530 ringgit. Deals were done at 1,530 to 1,535 ringgit a ton.

July CPO for central was offered at 1,530 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,525 ringgit. Deals were reported at 1,520 ringgit.

August CPO for south and central were offered at 1,500 ringgit a ton against bids of 1,490 ringgit. No deals were reported. —Reuters