JAKARTA, Feb 20: Malaysian palm futures fell to a 2-week low on Friday, extending a five-day losing streak, on fears over weak demand and supportive weather condition in rival soy producing country Argentina, traders said.

The benchmark May contract fell 25 ringgit, or 1.34pc, to 1,835 ringgit ($499) per ton, the lowest finish since Feb. 4, having gone up as high as 1,889 ringgit early.

Other traded contracts were mixed. Overall volume was at 12,374 lots of 25 tons each.The trader said news of stronger Malaysian palm exports for the first 20 days boosted sentiment most of the day but they failed to remove concerns over the longer-term export prospect.

The price of the tropical oil -- used in various products from soap to biodiesel -- has fallen nearly 9 per cent this week, after briefly breaking a major resistance level of 2,000 ringgit on demand concerns.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-20 rose 1.7 per cent to 785,292 tons from 771,860 tons shipped between Jan. 1 and 20, cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said on Friday. Soyaoil for March delivery rose 0.16 per cent by 1109 GMT in electronic trading.

In Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, the Jakarta-based state marketing centre did not hold a palm oil tender as it ran out of stocks.

The centre normally sells palm oil from state plantations. Producers in Medan, which is home to Belawan port, Indonesia’s main palm oil export port, did not hold a palm oil auction either.

Meanwhile, refiners in Jakarta offered refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, used as cooking oil, at 7,300-7,400 rupiah per kg against 7,300 rupiah per kg on Thursday.

In the physical market, Malaysian palm oil for February and March deliveries was traded at 1,890-1,900 ringgit a ton in the southern region, and at 1,885-1,900 ringgit per ton in the central region.—Reuters