JAKARTA: Malaysian palm oil futures slid on Tuesday as weak export data pressured the contract, however strength in rival vegetable oils and expectation of lower production capped losses.

The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were down 0.13% to 3,860 ringgit ($805.01)at closing.

“Palm futures closed broadly mixed with the contract months marginally higher and lower. Mixed fundamentals of lower production and weaker exports was weighing down on the market in the second half shrugging off the higher related oils on the Chinese exchanges,” said Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Palm Oil Analytics.

The contract rose as much as 0.83% earlier in the session before surveyors released export data for Feb. 1-20 period.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-20 were seen falling by 3.4% to 18.3% from the previous month, cargo surveyors data showed on Tuesday.

Soyoil contract at Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.97%, while its palm oil contract rose 1.36%, both were trading at their best levels since Jan. 30. On the Chicago Board of Trade, soyoil was 0.35% higher.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may break resistance at 3,891 ringgit per metric ton, and rise into the 3,925-3,967 ringgit range, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.