31/01/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil slipped to a five-week low on Monday on slowing demand and investor caution ahead of a likely debt swap deal for Greece that would help the country avoid a messy default.

European leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone at a summit on Monday although unresolved problems in Greece are expected to cast a shadow on the discussions.

In signs of slowing demand for palm oil, cargo surveyors' reports showed a double-digit decline in Malaysian palm oil exports from Jan. 1 to 25.

A stronger ringgit used to price palm oil feedstock also made the commodity more expensive for refiners, limiting trade interest in the palm oil market that has lost close to 3 percent this month.

"The market is lower on negative margins, stronger ringgit and broad-based chart inspired selling," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

"We can expect choppy trading as market participants look to establish bottom around 3,100 ringgit and below there at 3,070 ringgit."

Benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.7 percent to close at 3,082 ringgit ($1,009) per tonne. Prices earlier touched 3,079 ringgit, a level last seen since Dec. 22.

Traded volumes stood at 24,058 lots of 25 tonnes each, just slightly lower than the usual 25,000 lots.

On the demand side, Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 25 days of the month dropped close to 20 percent, which some traders attributed to the shift in orders to Indonesia, which slashed export taxes for processed oils. 

Exports also fell due to a delay by Malaysia in issuing tax free crude palm oil export taxes, sources said. This has made it difficult for licence holders to supply overseas refiners with cheap feedstock and meet existing export contracts for crude palm oil.

Malaysian crude palm oil exports slumped to 74,640 tonnes for the Jan. 1-25 period from 301,734 tonnes a month ago, said cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance.

Cargo surveyors will issue January's overall palm oil export numbers from Malaysia on Tuesday, which some traders expect to be in the range of 1.3 million tonnes, compared to the 1.4 million tonnes shipped in December.

Oil prices retreated on Monday, dipping below $111 a barrel after an expected Iranian vote to suspend crude exports to Europe was postponed and markets continued to wait for a deal on Greek debt.

The U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery slipped 0.6 percent in Asian trade on investor caution ahead of the EU summit.

After closing a week for the Lunar New Year holidays, the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange edged up 0.2 percent.         
 
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1002 GMT
                                                               
  Contract                    Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL           FEB2    3090   -47.00    3080    3136     511
  MY PALM OIL          MAR2    3085   -51.00    3085    3131    3767
  MY PALM OIL           APR2    3082   -53.00    3079    3126   10299
  CHINA PALM OLEIN  SEP2    8026    -4.00    8016    8072   52186
  CHINA SOYOIL          SEP2    9046   +20.00    9046    9094  147976
  CBOT SOY OIL          MAR2   51.29    -0.30   51.22   51.70    4071
  NYMEX CRUDE         MAR2   98.90    -0.66   98.71  100.05   18081
                                                               
  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
   
 * Bursa Malaysia holds its annual Palm and Lauric Oils
Conference & Exhibition Price Outlook 2012 from March 5 to 7 in
Kuala Lumpur. For details, see www.pocmalaysia.com
($1=3.055 Malaysian ringgit)