CPO FUTURES Malaysian palm oil futures ended softer yesterday for the third consecutive day, touching a new 10-week intraday low, as worries over slow exports overcame support from gains in oil and soyabean markets, traders said. The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia’s Derivatives Exchange settled down RM14, or 0.61 per cent to RM2,285 a tonne after trading as high as RM2,318 and hitting a low of RM2,274, a level unseen since April 10. Overall volume was 10,668 lots of 25 tonnes each. “(Palm oil) exports are suspected to be lower than last month. (The) market is also a bit lacklustre as it looks for a new lead,” said a dealer in a foreign brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. Palm oil futures had tumbled as much as 3.8 per cent on Thursday on worries about the prospect of slower Indian demand. Traders said players were looking for a fresh lead from export data for the first 20 days and expected the fall in exports would not be steep. “There’s talk circulating that the exports would only be down about 4 per cent,” another dealer said. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1-15 fell 10.2 per cent to 560,416 tonnes from the same period in May, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Service reported on Monday. The market was not factoring in concerns over the prospect of a return of the El Nino weather pattern since it was not expectd to have an immediate impact on current production, traders said. In the physical market, palm oil for June-July delivery was traded at RM2,300-RM2,320 a tonne in the southern region and between RM2,290-RM2,320 a tonne in the central region.]]>