KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell nearly 2% on Monday, down for a second straight session, pressured by weaker rival oils and a drop in August export volume so far.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 47 ringgit, or 1.7%, at 2,711 ringgit ($646.55) a tonne, after falling as much as 2.53% earlier.

The market was volatile during early trade, with the Malaysian bourse tracking Dalian palm oil, a Singapore-based trader said.

Malaysia's palm oil exports for August 1-10 fell between 4.8% and 6.2% from July, cargo surveyors said.

Meanwhile, end-July palm oil inventories in the world's second largest producer sank 10.55% to 1.7 million tonnes from June, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Production fell 4.14% from the month before, less than estimates of a 5% decline, according to a Reuters poll.

"(There were) no major surprises on a first glance and all data seems in line with expectations and priced in," said Marcello Cultrera, institutional sales manager and broker at Phillip Futures in Kuala Lumpur.

Dalian's most-active soyaoil contract fell 1.7%, while its palm oil contract dropped 2.08%. Soyaoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.65%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.-Reuters