KUALA LUMPUR, March 1: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed marginally down in thin trade on Thursday as rival soyaoil declined, but the market was awaiting news on exports in the coming days.

Dealers said shipments were likely to pick up after a seasonal slowdown.

The benchmark third-month May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange finished down 10 ringgit at 1,950 ringgit ($556) a ton.

The market has come down slightly because of soyaoil but there not much trading, said one dealer. In the coming days the market movement will depend on exports, soyoil and crude oil prices. Other contracts were down between 8 and 19 ringgit.

Overall volume was down sharply at 6,463 lots of 25 tons each compared with around 12,000 lots on a routine day.

The state-run Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release February exports, output and stocks data on March 12. On the same day, cargo surveyors will unveil export numbers for March 1 to 10.

In Malaysia's physical market, crude palm oil for March shipment was quoted at 1,950/1,960 ringgit per ton. Trades were done at 1,955 ringgit.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-28 fell 10.1pc to 856,192 tons from 952,753 tons shipped between Jan 1 and 31, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.—Reuters