Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down on Friday in step with rival US soyaoil as the prospects of weaker exports in the first 20 days of May weighed on prices, dealers said.
The benchmark third-month August crude palm oil contract on Bursar Malaysia Derivatives in Kuala Lumpur fell six ringgit to 1,452 ringgit a tonne ($402) after trading as high as 1,460 ringgit.
"The market was down, following Chicago's electronic trading that was down slightly," a Malaysian dealer in Kuala Lumpur said. "Also, people expected weak export numbers. That was why the market came down."
On Friday's electronic trading during Asian hours, soyaoil fell on CBOT, with the key July contract down another 0.10 cents at 25.47 cents. Soyaoil and palm oil compete for exports and their prices often move in step.
The market was awaiting May 1-20 palm oil exports data due on Monday, with some dealers expecting weak numbers due to slow demand. "Many people expect below 800,000 tonnes. I expect 780,000-820,000 tonnes," a dealer said.
Other traded months settled down two to six ringgit. Volume was 6,896 lots of 25 tonnes each compared with Thursday's 4,873 lots. Society General de Surveillance (SGS), one of the two cargo surveyors the industry watches, said last on Monday Malaysia exported 527,713 tonnes of oil palm products between May 1 and 15, down 1.6 percent from the 536,334 tonnes shipped between April 1 and 15.
The other, Interlake Testing Services said exports of Malaysian oil palm products for May 1-15 were 508,214 tonnes, down 14.6 percent from the 595,255 tonnes shipped between April 1-15.
The Malaysian market was expected to move in a narrow range on Monday with immediate resistance at 1,480 and support at 1,440, dealers said.
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