20/01/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures eased on Thursday as prospects of higher stocks and slowing demand of the edible oil offset news that the International Monetary Fund will help to tackle the euro zone debt crisis.

The IMF move may prevent the euro zone debt crisis from deepening. Concerns of slower economic growth and weaker commodity demand from the over two-year old financial crisis has weighed on palm oil futures that are 0.6 percent down so far this year.

Investors were focusing on talks of higher-than-expected stock levels, rising production in Malaysia and lacklustre export trend in recent weeks that could depress prices.

"There is simply not much of exciting news on the local front while the market is waiting for the Jan. 1-20 export data," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.7 percent to close at 3,157 ringgit ($1017) per tonne.

Traded volumes stood at 25,812 lots of 25 tonnes each, just slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said palm oil will fall to the Jan. 16 low of 3,103 ringgit based on technical analysis.

Malaysia's 2012 palm oil production is expected to rise 2.3 percent to 19.3 million tonnes as more estates come into maturity, an official from the country's industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Thursday.

The MPOB also said last week that December stock levels were higher than expected, keeping investors cautious despite prospects of wet weather hurting palm oil production.

The Malaysian weather office did not issue heavy rain warning for key oil palm growing states in the country but traders are keeping a close watch.

The market is also keeping an eye on export trends as they could indicate the price movement of the edible oil.

For top producer Indonesia, exports declined 29 percent in December compared to November based on Reuters calculation.

Malaysia's palm oil exports also showed a similar trend, posting an 11 percent drop for the first 15 days in January, cargo surveyor data showed.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance will publish export data for Jan. 1-20 on Friday.

In related news, Malaysia's Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok said he was briefing the cabinet soon on proposals to preserve the country's palm oil export competitiveness after Indonesia last year slashed its export tax on refined products.

The move has seen orders for refined products shift to Indonesia and limited Malaysian access to crude palm oil feedstock.

"We are still discussing the proposals internally and there should be a policy statement soon. We do not want to be an exporter of raw materials to other countries. We want to develop our downstream industry," the minister added.

In related markets, Brent crude oil rose above $111 on Thursday as risk appetite improved on hopes the euro zone debt crisis was slowly being resolved and on signs of steadier global economic growth.

Other vegetable markets were also lifted by the more postive investor sentiment.

The U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery were up 0.6 percent while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian commodity exchange gained 0.3 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1005 GMT Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1005 GMT

  Contract                  Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL          FEB2    3165   -25.00    3160    3175     451
  MY PALM OIL          MAR2    3164   -21.00    3156    3182    5589
  MY PALM OIL          APR2    3157   -23.00    3150    3178   10501
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    7984   +28.00    7928    7994   66138
  CHINA SOYOIL         SEP2    8960   +24.00    8910    8970  190142
  CBOT SOY OIL        MAR2   50.71    +0.31   50.45   50.80    6813
  NYMEX CRUDE        FEB2  101.50    +0.91  101.10  101.80   10948
     
  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 = 3.104 ringgit)