* Buying interest returns on 7-month low prices early this week * Palm oil biased to drop to 2,233 ringgit -technicals * Weaker demand from India, China in H2 could hurt prices -analyst (Updates prices) By Chew Yee Kiat SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged higher on Thursday after a price slump this week to seven-month lows attracted buyers, but gains were capped by lingering concerns over weak demand and rising output. Slowing demand after the start of Ramadan slashed Malaysian palm oil exports during the first half of July, while the start of a higher production cycle in the second half of the year also raised prospects of higher inventory levels this month. "The market fell quite a lot on Monday and Tuesday and that brought in some buying interest," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. "But concerns remain over slowing demand, especially when production picks up in the second half of the year." By Thursday's close, the benchmark October contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.8 percent to 2,291 ringgit ($717) per tonne. Prices hit their lowest level this year of 2,222 ringgit on Tuesday on bearish fundamentals. Total traded volume stood at 53,157 lots of 25 tonnes each, well above the usual 35,000 lots. Prices moved between 2,248 ringgit and 2,294 ringgit. Analysts said concerns over weaker demand from major buyers China and India in the second half of the year could lead to further weakness for palm oil prices, which have fallen nearly 6 percent so far this year. "We believe the resilience of crude palm oil (CPO) imports to the world's top market, India, could be dented by the steep depreciation of the Indian rupee," said Standard Chartered analyst Abah Ofon in a report. "This, coupled with a potentially large edible oilseed harvest in 2013/14 and renewed concerns about demand from China, suggests that the CPO market will need to adjust lower," he added. China is the world's second-largest palm oil buyer after India. Technicals showed palm oil is biased to test a support of 2,233 ringgit per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. In other markets, Brent oil fell on Thursday to near $108 a barrel as a strengthening dollar undercut expectations for rising demand after a third weekly drawdown in U.S. crude stocks. In vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December was up 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange rose 0.4 percent. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL AUG3 2340 +63.00 2292 2341 1230 MY PALM OIL SEP3 2302 +36.00 2264 2309 13035 MY PALM OIL OCT3 2291 +41.00 2248 2294 24136 CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN4 5642 +18.00 5568 5664 563072 CHINA SOYOIL JAN4 7272 +28.00 7192 7280 658392 CBOT SOY OIL DEC3 45.60 +0.09 45.18 45.70 5762 NYMEX CRUDE AUG3 106.33 -0.15 106.15 106.73 13606 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

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