KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Friday and logged an 11% weekly drop, its sharpest in a year, hit by weakening demand and lockdown concerns and estimates of higher production.

The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 119 ringgit, or 2.89%, at 3,993 ringgit ($964.73) a tonne.

Palm fell for a third straight session to its lowest since May 4.

The market is trading on estimates of higher production levels for June as well as July to September, said Marcello Cultrera, institutional sales manager & broker at Phillip Futures in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s palm exports during May 1-20 rose 4.6% month-on-month, slowing down from a 22% monthly rise in exports during May 1-15.