KUALA LUMPUR, April 14: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed slightly lower on Friday after rival US soyaoil inched down ahead of the Easter holiday weekend.

The benchmark third-month June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives settled two ringgit down at 1,450 ringgit ($394.77) a ton, off the day’s low of 1,447.

Other traded months were down between one and 15 ringgit.

Overall volume stood at 6,537 lots of 25 tons each.

The market tried to move higher in anticipation of good export numbers for the first 15 days of April, but there were many waiting to take profit as well, said a trader.

Export estimates for April 1-15 from two cargo surveyors are due on Saturday and Monday.

Exports of Malaysian oil palm products for April 1-10 stood at 375,355 tons, up 30 per cent from the 288,696 tons shipped between March 1 and 10, Societe Generale de Surveillance, a cargo tracker closely watched by the market, said on Monday.

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soyaoil futures closed Thursday down ahead of the long weekend, with May down 0.08 cent per lb at 22.56 cents.

In physicals, April crude palm oil was offered at 1,422.50 ringgit a ton in both central and southern regions, against bids of 1,417.50 ringgit. Trades were done at 1,415-1,425 ringgit in both regions.

May crude palm oil was offered at 1,440 ringgit in

the south against bids of 1,432.50 ringgit, while in the central region, it was offered at 1,435 ringgit against bids of 1430. Trades were reported at 1,435-1,440 ringgit in both regions.

Stocks are quite high, so the most important thing is to reduce the stock by attracting the consumer to come in and buy, said one physicals dealer. Maybe when prices drop below 1,400, that will draw the consumers in.—Reuters