KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures slid over 3% on Tuesday to hit their lowest in more than two weeks, weighed down by cargo surveyor data showing a plunge in early January exports.

The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 146 ringgit, or 3.55%, to 3,972 ringgit ($908.82) a tonne, hitting its lowest since Dec. 23 and posting its sharpest decline in a month.

Palm exports from Malaysia during Jan. 1-10 tumbled by half from the same period in December to 235,529 tonnes, cargo surveyor Amspec Agri said.

Malaysia’s December palm oil end-stocks fell 4.09% from the month before to a four-month low of 2.19 million tonnes, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data showed.

Production shrank 3.68% to 1.62 million tonnes, while exports fell 3.48% to 1.47 million tonnes.

MPOB data was slightly supportive since end-stocks were at the lower end of expectations, although exports dropped more than expected, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract eased 1.9%, while its palm oil contract slipped 3.1%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.4%.

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