KUALA LUMPUR, March 29: Malaysia's crude palm oil futures closed nearly unchanged on Thursday as the market awaited March export numbers due to be released by cargo surveyors at the weekend.

The benchmark third-month June contract on the BursaMalaysia Derivatives Exchange finished down 3 ringgit at 2,045 ringgit ($592) a ton.

The market is slow and dull as players are waiting for new leads, including export figures from cargo surveyors, one dealer said.

The third-month contract on Wednesday climbed 45 ringgit, or 2.2 per cent to 2,048, a level not seen since December 28, boosted by firm crude and soyoil markets.

The market is just 17 ringgit below an eight-year high of 2,062 ringgit reached in December, when floods disrupted supplies.

Other traded contracts fell between 3 and 8 ringgit, except for January and March 2008, which were both up 10 ringgit.

Overall volume stood at 5,325 lots of 25 tons each. Oil pulled back below $64 on Thursday from its highest close in over six months, but investors were on edge that tension between Iran and the West could pose a threat to shipments from the Gulf.

Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter, has held 15 British sailors and marines since Friday and was hit with new UN sanctions over its nuclear programme last weekend. The United States has been conducting naval exercises in the Gulf.

Malaysian palm oil prices soared 40 per cent last year on the back of biodiesel demand and the market is still holding on to strong gains.

In the physical market, crude palm oil for March shipment in the southern region was quoted at 2,040/2,045 ringgit a ton, while trades were done at 2,045 ringgit.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March 1-25 fell 0.9 per cent to 719,482 tons from 726,152 tons shipped between February 1-25.

Another surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, said exports during the period fell 3.1 per cent to 714,124 tons from 737,015.—Reuters