KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower yesterday, amid speculation Indonesia may also cut its CPO export tax.

Phillip Futures product specialist, David Ng said the move by the Malaysian government to exempt CPO tax for two months to boost export demand had prompted speculation that Indonesia might follow suit.

At the close, spot month September 2014 slipped RM4 to RM2,050 a tonne, October 2014 fell RM7 to RM2,045, November 2014 was down by RM11 to RM2,034 while December 2014 lost RM13 to RM2,060 a tonne.

Volume decreased to 49,877 lots from 59,626 lots on Monday while open interest rose to 329,134 contracts from 322,711 contracts previously.

On the physical market, September South closed unchanged at RM2,060 a tonne. Bernama