* Palm oil up on La Nina worries, other edible oils mostly down * Malaysia deputy PM says impending rains could be "devastating" * Strong export numbers also hold up market (adds details, comments) By Niluksi Koswanage KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged up on Tuesday on concerns that heavy rains at the end of the year could stall harvesting and inundate estates just as export demand remains robust. Weather offices around the world have confirmed a La Nina weather phenomenon, which brings heavier-than-usual rains to Southeast Asia, is developing in the region and will coincide with the monsoon rains at the end of the year. The weather condition is likely to give support to benchmark palm oil futures that have lost more than 22 percent so far this year on the unfolding euro zone debt crisis, high stocks and prospects of big soy crops. "Better exports and concerns that the weather will affect palm oil production are giving some support to the futures market," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. "It won't be surprising if the market moves above 3,000 ringgit again." By the midday break, benchmark January palm oil futures FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had risen 0.2 percent to 2,944 ringgit ($959.583) off a high of 2,958 ringgit. Overall traded volumes stood at 6,288 lots at 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 12,500 lots as investors remained cautious over the state of the global economy. Technicals were slightly bearish, with Reuters analyst Wang Tao saying palm oil will fall further to 2,881 ringgit per tonne, as a rebound that started from the Oct. 6 low of 2,754 ringgit has been completed. Malaysian media on Tuesday cited Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as saying weather reports indicated the impending rains could be "devastating" and the floods could be the worst in decades. La Nina-driven floods earlier this year last swamped oil palm estates in Malaysia's top growing states of southern Johor bordering Singapore and Sabah on Borneo island in mid-February, pushing prices to a 2011 high of 3,967 ringgit. For now, production appears to be strong with traders expecting Malaysian palm oil stocks to record an increase despite the strong export data reported for October the previous day. "It looks like the fundamentals are going to change again, the high stocks we have are eventually going to come down if La Nina storms in," said another Malaysian trader. Other related markets were under pressure. Oil prices slipped on Tuesday on a stronger U.S. dollar, continuing uncertainty about the resolution of the euro zone's debt crisis and the collapse of MF Global Holdings. U.S. soyoil for December delivery dropped 0.2 percent in Asian trade as strong progress with the soybean harvests weighed on the soy complex. China's most active May 2012 soybean oil contract <0#DBY:> also fell on global macro-economic fears. "From a macro and fundamental perspective, the market's focus this week would be on the G20 summit," said Huang Zhi Qiang, Guotai Junan Futures, referring to the meeting in Cannes, France on Nov. 3-4 that will focus on the euro zone crisis. "For now, China's demand for soyoil stays more or less the same though imports are expected to be higher than the third quarter," he added. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0525 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL NOV1 2943 +1.00 2943 2944 10 MY PALM OIL DEC1 2945 +1.00 2944 2955 987 MY PALM OIL JAN2 2944 +6.00 2943 2958 3308 CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY2 7930 -44.00 7910 8000 93762 CHINA SOYOIL MAY2 9198 -42.00 9176 9264 276880 CBOT SOY OIL DEC1 51.04 -0.13 50.98 51.32 2304 NYMEX CRUDE DEC1 92.48 -0.71 92.29 92.88 4513 Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel ($1=3.068 Ringgit) (Additional reporting by Chew Yee Kiat in SINGAPORE;Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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