* Malaysia July 1-15 palm oil exports fall 22.8 pct - ITS * Palm oil to drop to 2,233 ringgit - technicals * Malaysia sets Aug export tax unchanged at 4.5 pct By Chew Yee Kiat SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in more than two months on Monday as worries persisted over weakening demand for the edible oil. Malaysian palm oil shipments for the July 1-15 period fell 22.8 percent to 547,857 tonnes from 709,860 a month ago, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services (ITS) said on Monday. The benchmark September contract slumped 3 percent on Friday, the steepest single-day loss seen since Nov. 5, as traders feared a weak export trend in the first 10 days will stretch into the month. "Exports in the first 15 days were steadier compared to the first 10 days but they are still weak, and hopefully they will recover by the end of the month," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. "Selling is technically overdone and we should see a technical bounce soon." By the midday break, the September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had lost 1.5 percent to 2,267 ringgit ($712) per tonne, just above its intraday low at 2,260 ringgit, the lowest level since May 7. Total traded volume stood at 13,975 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly above the usual 12,500 lots. Prices moved in a range between 2,260 ringgit and 2,283. Technicals showed palm oil may break below support at 2,272 ringgit per tonne, and fall further towards 2,233 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. Malaysia, the world's No.2 palm oil producer, will set its crude palm oil export tax for August at 4.5 percent, unchanged from a month ago, a government circular showed on Monday. Top producer Indonesia is expected to announce its export tax for August later in the month. Traders are keeping an eye on Malaysia's output trend as an uptick in production data from industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board signalled the start of a higher yield cycle. Higher oilseed supplies in the second half of the year may depress palm oil prices further, which have lost 7 percent so far this year. In other markets, Brent futures rose towards $109 a barrel on Monday as demand growth worries ebbed after data from China showed the world's second-biggest economy expanded in line with expectations. In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December fell 0.9 percent in early Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange fell 1.2 percent. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0446 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL JUL3 0 +0.00 0 0 0 MY PALM OIL AUG3 2276 -33.00 2270 2293 708 MY PALM OIL SEP3 2267 -34.00 2260 2283 7108 CHINA PALMOLEIN JAN4 5686 -156.00 5656 5780 531622 CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7204 -86.00 7172 7280 635848 CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 45.34 -0.41 45.31 45.74 3296 NYMEX CRUDE AUG3 105.97 +0.02 105.50 106.17 8263 Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound Dalian soy oil and RBD palmolein in Chinese yuan per tonne Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel ($1=3.183 ringgit)

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