KUALA LUMPUR, April 5: Malaysian crude palm oil futures closed 1.2 per cent lower on Thursday as players booked profits after strong gains. The most active month hit new eight-year highs for the fourth time since Friday in a day of volatile trade.

The benchmark third-month June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 25 ringgit, or 1.2 per cent, at 2,090 ringgit ($606) a ton. It hit a session high of 2,130 ringgit, a level not seen since January 1999.

If you look at the numbers, imports from Indonesia have declined because there is no parity and also there is a lack of availability of double-hull vessels, said an official at a leading palm oil trading company in Kuala Lumpur.

He estimated Malaysia's palm imports from Indonesia in January and February slipped to around 37,000 tons this year from about 300,000 during the same months in 2006.

The market has risen more than 3 per cent this week on the back of a firm global crude oil market and tight palm oil supplies at home.

Malaysian palm oil prices soared 40 per cent last year because of biodiesel demand and the market is forecast to rise around 20 per cent this year.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March 1-31 rose 15.8 per cent to 991,550 tons from 856,192 tons shipped in February, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.—Reuters