16/02/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose to their highest level in over a month, boosted by dry weather concerns in South America, but the prospect of slowing demand due to Europe's economic woes led the contract to close lower.

Hamburg-based oilseeds analyst Oil World cut its forecast for the 2012 soybean crops in drought-hit Brazil and Paraguay, and prospects of lower production supported palm oil prices, which tracked soybean oil closely.

But export trends in No.2 producer Malaysia pointed to declining demand for the vegetable oil and investors were wary that an uncertain outlook for Greece could further cut commodity consumption in Europe.

"There's a slight consolidation after yesterday's rise," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.

"After SGS releases its data we may see more pull back if there is no improvement in the export numbers," the dealer added, referring to cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance.

Benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange eased 0.3 percent to close at 3,197 ringgit ($1,054) per tonne. Prices hit an intraday high of 3,213 ringgit, a level last seen on Jan. 12.

Traded volumes stood at 23,479 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly thinner than the usual 25,000 lots.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said Malaysian palm oil exports from Feb. 1 to 15 fell 14 percent to 509,107 tonnes from a month ago, indicating a slowdown in the pace of export compared to the first 10 days of the month.

Another cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillence reported a similar 14.2 percent decline to slightly less than 500,000 tonnes for the same period.

But crude palm oil exports picked up, which some traders attributed to the tax-free export quotas of 3 million tonnes that were issued after weeks of delay.

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao took a bullish view, saying palm oil will rise further to 3,244 ringgit per tonne as indicated by a wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis.

Oil rose to $118 a barrel on Wednesday as real and threatened supply disruptions outweighed concern about the health of the global economy and Greece's struggle to avoid bankruptcy.

The U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery inched up 0.3 percent in Asian trade while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange lost 0.3 percent.