* Traders cautious ahead of key industry meet next week * Malaysia Feb palm exports down from month ago * Palm oil on track for 6.3 percent weekly loss (Updates prices, adds details) By Chew Yee Kiat SINGAPORE, March 1 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures inched lower on Friday, extending losses into an eighth straight session as weak exports continued to weigh and as investors turned cautious ahead of a key industry conference next week. Traders were concerned Malaysia's palm exports, which one cargo surveyor said fell 9.1 percent in February, would decline further as a zero-percent export tax for the crude grade rises to 4.5 percent this month. Focus is also shifting to Bursa Malaysia's annual palm oil conference next week, where leading industry analysts including Dorab Mistry and James Fry will present their price outlooks. "The market is waiting for Dorab Mistry's forecast next week, which is likely to be bearish," said Alan Lim Seong Chun, a research analyst at Malaysia's Kenanga Investment Bank. "February exports were weaker than the expected 3 percent decline. Besides that, soybean oil overnight also declined about 1 percent so that also pressured the palm oil market." By the midday break, the benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had lost 0.9 percent to 2,375 ringgit ($772) per tonne. Prices fell to a low of 2,368 ringgit on Thursday, a level last seen on Jan. 18. Total traded volume stood at 13,893 lots of 25 tonnes each, just slightly higher than the usual 12,500 lots. For the week, the edible oil is on track to post a 6.3 percent loss, the worst since mid-November, tracking losses in the soybean oil market as improving South American weather boosts the supply outlook for soybeans. Industry players are also keeping an eye on slowing palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's No.2 producer. Less production could help ease inventory levels, which stood at 2.58 million tonnes in January, although slowing exports could mean they will not ease by much. In other markets, Brent crude slipped towards $111 a barrel on Friday, weighed down by concerns that oil demand will be hurt if China's economy continues to sputter, the euro zone remains weak and automatic spending cuts are enacted in the United States. In competing vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery was almost flat in early Asian trade after inching down 1.1 percent in the previous session. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had eased 0.6 percent by the midday break. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0512 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL MAR3 2364 -11.00 2340 2364 59 MY PALM OIL APR3 2369 -18.00 2362 2382 387 MY PALM OIL MAY3 2375 -22.00 2370 2394 7161 CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3 6628 -46.00 6582 6646 440684 CHINA SOYOIL SEP3 8258 -52.00 8224 8284 395270 CBOT SOY OIL MAY3 49.14 +0.02 49.06 49.30 2753 NYMEX CRUDE APR3 91.93 -0.11 91.43 91.96 7425 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=3.1 ringgit)

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