Malaysian palm oil futures slipped on Friday following a fall in soyoil prices after lower-than-expected weekly export sales data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The benchmark palm oil contract for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 42 ringgit, or 0.95%, to 4,358 ringgit ($919.22) a metric ton in early trade. Palm oil futures are up 3.72% so far this week. The Dalian Commodity Exchange is closed on Thursday and Friday for the Qingming festival. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade traded flat. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Soybeans dropped on Thursday following lower-than-expected weekly export sales data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), seasonally rising supplies from the South American harvest and falling soyoil prices. Malaysia's palm oil inventories are expected to have declined 6.65% from the prior month to an eight-month low of 1.79 million tons at the end of March, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is scheduled to release the data on April 15. India's rapeseed and mustard output is likely to rise 7% from last year to a record 12.09 million metric tons in 2024. This will help the world's biggest vegetable oil importer cut back on edible oil imports.