20121214 1526 Palm Oil Related News.

VEGOILS-Palm oil inches up, but set for 4th straight weekly loss
Fri Dec 14, 2012 1:05am EST
* Prices bounce from 3-yr low, but investors cautious on
record stocks
    * Traders looking out for Malaysia's new crude palm oil tax
for Jan
    * Coming up: Malaysia palm export data for Dec. 1-15 by ITS
on Sat

 (Updates prices, adds detail)
    By Chew Yee Kiat
    SINGAPORE, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
rebound on Friday from the previous day's three-year low but
prices were still on course for the fourth straight weekly loss
as worries persisted over record high stocks.
    For the week, palm oil has lost more than 2 percent after
slumping to the lowest since November 2009 on Thursday. Sluggish
global economic growth hurting commodity demand has also put the
edible oil on track for the steepest annual loss since 2008.  
    "Concerns about large stockpiles are still hovering despite
the fact that, on the financial market side, we have further
stimulus coming from the U.S. Fed and some speculation that
Japan may expand its asset purchasing programme," said Ker Chung
Yang, commodities analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.
    "For today we see some kind of a relief rally after
yesterday's drop, but the fundamentals are still the same."
    By the midday break, the benchmark February contract
 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.8
percent to 2,248 ringgit ($736) per tonne. Prices fell to 2,217
ringgit the previous day, a level unseen since November 2009.
    Total traded volumes stood at 15,860 lots of 25 tonnes each,
higher than the usual 12,500 lots.
    Traders will be looking out for Malaysia's export data for
the first half of December, hoping for a stronger export demand
after cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported a 2.8
percent slide in shipments for the Dec. 1-10 period.
    They are also waiting for Malaysia's new January crude palm
oil export tax set to be announced on Monday, with analysts
expecting it to be set at zero, a level that could boost export
demand and help bring stocks down.  
    In a bullish sign for palm oil, Brent crude rose above $108
a barrel on Friday on a brighter economic outlook for China, the
world's second largest oil consumer, but worries about the
economic impact of a possible U.S. fiscal crisis capped price
gains.
    In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for January
delivery gained 0.8 percent in early Asian trade. The
most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian
Commodity Exchange edged up 1 percent.