* Prices drop to 2,229 ringgit, a level last seen on Nov. 12 * Traders looking out for Malaysia's new crude palm oil tax for Jan * Palm prices to rise soon on export demand -Oil World (Updates prices) By Chew Yee Kiat SINGAPORE, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dropped to a one-month low on Wednesday, as forecasts for a higher supply of rival soybean oil stoked concerns of a global vegetable oil surplus. The bearish view of soybean oil from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), coupled with Malaysia's record high palm oil stocks in November, have put palm oil futures on track for their steepest annual loss since 2008. "CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) soyoil came down yesterday by about 90 points, and there were some traders who were trying to break the previous low," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. At the close, the benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 2.3 percent to 2,238 ringgit ($730) per tonne, slightly off a low at 2,229 ringgit, a level unseen since Nov. 12. Total traded volumes stood at 35,105 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots. Traders are looking out for Malaysia's new crude palm oil export tax that will be formalised in a gazette on Dec. 17 under a new tax structure that aims to claw back market share from top producer Indonesia. Despite higher supply of global vegetable oil, the steep discount between palm oil and soybean oil could stimulate high export demand for palm oil and send prices rising in early 2013, said Hamburg-based analysts Oil World. Palm oil imports by India, the world's top vegetable oil buyer, are likely to have fallen in November from October levels, which were the highest in at least three years, as demand shrank with the start of cold weather that solidifies the oil, a Reuters survey showed. In a bullish sign for palm oil, Brent crude held above $108 a barrel on Wednesday as OPEC reduced oil supply, although rising output from the United States and uncertainty about its budget for next year limited price gains. In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for January delivery fell 0.4 percent in late Asian trade, after falling by almost 2 percent in the previous session. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 1.8 percent lower. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL DEC2 2045 -42.00 2040 2060 33 MY PALM OIL JAN3 2141 -46.00 2130 2166 786 MY PALM OIL FEB3 2238 -53.00 2229 2266 14271 CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3 6678 -170.00 6676 6774 799746 CHINA SOYOIL MAY3 8622 -162.00 8612 8708 532042 CBOT SOY OIL JAN3 50.02 -0.18 49.97 50.32 6254 NYMEX CRUDE JAN3 86.23 +0.44 85.68 86.29 11176 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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