KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures declined on Thursday evening, with the market weighed down by forecasts of slowing demand growth ahead of a data release by cargo surveyors on Friday.
The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.2 percent at 2,403 ringgit ($617.90) a tonne at the close of trade. It earlier rose as much as 0.7 percent to 2,424 ringgit.
Trading volumes stood at 28,948 lots of 25 tonnes each at the end of the trading day.
"The market eased on expectations of slowing exports," one Kuala Lumpur futures trader said.
Earlier in the day traders the market was quiet and largely range-bound in the absence of fresh industry data on production or exports.
Malaysia's palm oil shipments in first half of April rose 6 percent from the corresponding period in March, according to data from inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia.
Data for the April 1-20 period is scheduled for release on Friday.
March output in Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, rose 17.2 percent month on month to 1.57 million tonnes, its highest March production since 2000, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.
In related oils, the Chicago Board of Trade's May soybean oil contract rose 0.2 percent, while May soybean oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up 0.1 percent.
The Dalian May palm oil contract was up 0.8 percent.
Palm oil prices are affected by movements in rival edible oils that compete in the global vegetable oils market.
Palm oil could retest a resistance at 2,434 ringgit a tonne, a break above which could lead to a gain to the next resistance at 2,476 ringgit, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
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