23/11/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Thursday, slipping for a third straight day, as slowing exports continued to weigh and investors stayed cautious ahead of a bailout deal for Greece that could boost sentiment.

International lenders will meet again next Monday after they failed for the second week to reach a deal to release emergency aid for Greece, but major lender Germany signalled that significant divisions remain.

Cargo surveyor data showed Malaysian exports of palm products for the first 20 days of November inched lower from a month ago, and while the fall was not significant, it nonetheless fuelled concern at a time when stocks had climbed to a record 2.51 million tonnes in October.

"The price outlook for crude palm oil has deteriorated. With the cargo surveyors' export data for the first 20 days of November showing a decline of about 3 percent, we see a higher possibility now of November's inventory level to register another record high," Alan Lim Seong Chun, research analyst with Malaysia's Kenanga Investment Bank, said in a note on Thursday.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 1.3 percent to close at 2,411 ringgit ($788) per tonne. Prices traded in a range of 2,399 to 2,449 ringgit.

Total traded volumes stood at 36,386 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Technicals showed palm oil is expected to drop to 2,321 ringgit as it did not break a resistance at 2,464 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Traders will be looking for clues from the meeting next Monday after European demand for palm oil showed signs of slowing. It could take a further hit if international lenders fail again to agree on how to get Greece's debt down to a sustainable level.    

In related markets, Brent crude was steady near $111 per barrel on Thursday as the Chinese economy showed further signs of recovery, boosting the outlook for oil demand, although the upside was limited as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip eased concerns over supply.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.2 percent higher. The U.S. financial markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.   

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1002 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2300   -40.00    2285    2340     377
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2373   -29.00    2362    2411    5968
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2411   -32.00    2399    2449   16451
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6770   +12.00    6744    6798  398160
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8534   +18.00    8510    8562  452160
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   48.53    +0.00    0.00    0.00       0
  NYMEX CRUDE      JAN3   87.34    -0.04   87.28   87.77    7686

  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=3.06 ringgit)