RTRS:VEGOILS-Palm oil drops to near three-week low on euro zone concerns
* Investor caution over euro zone weighs on palm oil
* Markets eye Indonesian conference this week
* Malaysia's Nov exports lower than Oct - SGS, ITS
(Updates prices, adds export data)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil
futures fell on Wednesday as euro zone caution and thin trading
volumes overshadowed prospects of lower production aggravated by
erratic weather.
Investor caution grew over the chance for more progress in
resolving lingering euro zone debt woes after officials agreed
to boost a rescue fund and seek more aid from the International
Monetary Fund.
Traders are also expecting a slow week as industry players
attend the Indonesia Palm Oil Conference and Price Outlook 2012,
which starts on Wednesday.
"The market is simply tracking external markets such as the
CBOT. It has been the third day that it is trying to break below
the 3,050-ringgit level," a dealer in Kuala Lumpur said before
the midday break.
Benchmark February palm oil futures on the Bursa
Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 1.4 percent at 3,018
Malaysian ringgit ($960) per tonne. Prices dropped as low as
3,011 ringgit, a level last seen on Nov 10.
Overall traded volumes stood at 18,350 lots of 25 tonnes
each, thinner than the usual 25,000 lots.
Industry analysts, including Dorab Mistry and James Fry,
will present their views at the conference on Friday. For more
stories on the Bali conference, click
Heavy monsoon rains and a seasonal decline in yields are
expected to lower Malaysia's November palm oil production, which
some traders said may fall by 15 to 18 percent.
The Malaysia Meteorological Department issued a yellow stage
warning that heavy rain may persist till Saturday and cause
floods over low-lying parts of Pahang -- a key oil palm growing
area that accounts for 15 percent of production in Malaysia.
But exports have also started to come off a little, the
latest cargo surveyor data showed, and this may provide relief
to tightening stocks.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said Malaysian palm
oil exports for November fell 8.8 percent to 1.53 million
tonnes, in line with industry sources' expectations.
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance,
saw a similar drop of 8.7 percent in exports, to 1.54 million
tonnes for the same period.
In related markets, Brent crude edged down on Wednesday as
the lack of a concrete solution to the euro zone debt crisis
weighed on sentiment, but prices hovered above $110 per barrel
with escalating tensions in Iran keeping losses in check.
Concerns over the euro zone bailout progress also dragged
down other vegetable oil markets. U.S. soyoil for December
delivery slipped 1.3 percent while China's most active
May 2012 soybean oil contract <0#DBY:> lost 0.9 percent.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1002 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL DEC1 2980 -78.00 2980 3057 735
MY PALM OIL JAN2 3012 -52.00 3012 3088 1818
MY PALM OIL FEB2 3018 -44.00 3011 3088 9934
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY2 7768 -58.00 7758 7890 133636
CHINA SOYOIL MAY2 8596 -78.00 8586 8736 386942
CBOT SOY OIL JAN2 48.76 -0.67 48.57 49.44 7546
NYMEX CRUDE JAN2 99.11 -0.69 98.94 99.75 17692
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=3.1805 ringgit)