KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures eased for a third straight session on Thursday, pressured by profit-taking and position-squaring ahead of official data release, but a weaker ringgit and production constraints underpinned prices.

The benchmark palm oil contract for September delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 24 ringgit, or 0.63% to 3,771 ringgit ($902.15) a tonne.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is scheduled to release June supply and demand data next week.

The weakening of the ringgit, harvesting constraints and potentially lower end-stocks for July are keeping prices defensive, said Paramalingam Supramaniam, director at Selangor-based brokerage Pelindung Bestari.

Production will remain subdued at least until September unless an immediate solution is found to accelerate harvesting, he added. Soyaoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 1.11%. Dalian’s most-active soyaoil contract rose 0.8%, while its palm oil contract was up 0.2%.