JAKARTA, Jan 23 : Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell 2.1 per cent on Friday as traders took profit from a recent rally ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, traders said.

A retreat in crude oil price sparked the sell-off, which was partly capped by a weaker ringgit against the dollar.

The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange will be closed next Monday and Tuesday.

The market was down purely on liquidation ahead of a long holiday on the back of weakness in crude oil and soybean oil, a trader at a Kuala Lumpur-based commodities brokerage said.

The benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed 40 ringgit lower, or 2.1 per cent, at 1,830 ringgit a ton ($505).

Other traded contracts fell between 35 ringgit and 45 ringgit. Overall volume was at 10,048 lots of 25 tons each.

Palm oil, used in products ranging from soap to biodiesel, ave surged 40 percent from an Oct. 28 low of 1,331 ringgit on falling stocks but has failed to breach the key 2,000 ringgit level due to weaker exports and volatile external markets.

In Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, the state marketing centre said it sold the entire 2,500 tons of crude palm it offered at a top price of 6,323 rupiah ($0.56) per kg, up from 6,215 rupiah on Thursday.

Producers in Medan -- home to Belawan port, Indonesia’s key palm oil export port -- sold palm oil at 6,320 per kg, up from 6,210-6,220 rupiah per kg on Thursday.

Meanwhile, refiners in Jakarta sold refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm oil, used as cooking oil, at 6,700 rupiah per kg, up from 6,600-6,625 rupiah per kg on Thursday.

In Malaysian physical market, palm oil was traded at 1,850-1,865 ringgit per ton in the southern region, and at 1,835-1,865 ringgit a ton in the central region.—Reuters