20130111 1756 Palm Oil Related News.

VEGOILS-Palm slips, set for sharpest weekly loss since mid-Nov BOZ2 DBYF3 FCPOc3 - RTRS
11-Jan-2013 13:58
Futures on track for 4 pct weekly loss Negative surprise in stocks, lower exports weigh on prices Palm oil to drop to 2,334 ringgit -technicals

(Updates prices, adds detail)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower on Friday, on track to post their steepest weekly loss since mid-November, as higher stocks and slowing exports weighed on investor sentiment.
Malaysia's palm oil stocks climbed to a record 2.63 million tonnes in December, going against market consensus of a slight drop and fuelling concerns that inventory level may remain high for the first month of the year.
For the week, palm oil is on track to lose 4 percent, with exports for the first ten days of January falling as much as 34 percent from the same period a month ago amid China's stricter regulation on edible oil imports.
"On the overall, we view the latest inventory data negatively as high stocks should keep prices at distressed level of below 2,500 ringgit per tonne for an extended period," Alan Lim Seong Chun, research analyst with Malaysia's Kenanga Investment Bank, said in a note on Friday.
By the midday break, the benchmark March contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had lost 0.8 percent to 2,367 ringgit ($784) per tonne. Prices fell to a low of 2,356 ringgit on Thursday, a level not seen since Dec. 21.
Total traded volume stood at 12,440 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly lower than the usual 12,500 lots.
Technicals showed palm oil was expected to fall to 2,334 ringgit per tonne, with a good chance of breaking below this level and heading to 2,289 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. (Full Story)
Malaysian palm oil exports fell 25 percent and 34 percent for the first 10 days of January from a month ago, according to cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance, respectively.
The fall came despite Malaysia's zero percent crude palm oil export tax in January, although analysts said the newly adjusted tax structure is still positive for palm oil in longer term.
"A steep decline in export tax from 23 percent to zero should have some positive impact on shipment. We should see the effects in these one or two months," Alvin Tai, plantations analyst with Malaysia's OSK Research, said in a note on Friday.

Malaysia's weather office maintained its forecast that heavy rains in the key oil palm producing state of Sarawak may bring floods that could disrupt harvesting and lower production. Output is also expected to trend lower on seasonal factors.

Brent crude futures fell further below $112 a barrel on Friday after faster-than-expected inflation in China eased investors' confidence in the growth prospects of the world's second-biggest oil consumer, but output cuts in Saudi Arabia limited the drop. O/R
In competing vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for March delivery BOH3 lost 0.1 percent in early Asian trade, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a U.S. Department of Agriculture supply-demand report due to be released later on Friday. GRA/
The most active May soybean oil contract DBYcv1 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange lost 1 percent by the midday break.