Crude palm oil futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives fell slightly yesterday in reaction to weaker export data released yesterday, dealers said.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services estimated a drop by 4 per cent in the export of palm oil products for the first 25 days of July at 1,074,329 tonnes compared with 1,120,563 tonnes shipped in the same period of June.

Meanwhile, Societe Generale de Surveillance estimated exports of palm oil products for the period fell 0.9 per cent to 1,103,439 tonnes from 1,113,923 tonnes previously.

At the close, August 2010 was RM8 lower at RM2,550 a tonne, while September 2010 eased RM19 to RM2,491. Both October 2010 and November 2010 depreciated by RM25 to RM2,473 and RM2,470 a tonne, respectively.

Volume however rose to 18,236 lots from 15,995 lots last Friday while open interest rose to 68,489 contracts from 68,218 previously.

On the physical market, August South dropped by RM20 to RM2,550 a tonne.

Source: Business Times