19/12/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower in rangebound trading on Tuesday, hurt by a slowdown in exports at a time when inventory levels remain at record highs.   

Cargo surveyors reported a slight drop in Malaysian palm oil exports for Dec. 1-15 from a month ago, leaving traders to hope for slowing production to bring down stock levels that hit 2.56 million tonnes in November. 

Palm oil futures have shed more than a quarter of their value since the start of the year, set for their biggest annual drop since 2008, although analysts say prices should recover in 2013 as stocks begin to ease.

"For next year, we see a rebound in crude palm oil prices back to 2,750 ringgit per tonne from the current weak position, with signs only expected to start kicking in when inventories are back to optimal levels," Malaysia's Public Investment Bank said in a research note.

"Although production levels are back to normal, demand from the major consuming countries remains uncertain due to the slowdown in economic activity and tightening measures on imports of vegetable oils."

China, the world's second largest edible oil buyer, will impose stricter quality measures on edible oil imports from Jan. 1 onwards.

The benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 0.4 percent to close at 2,341 ringgit ($766) per tonne. Prices traded in a tight range between 2,332 and 2,355 ringgit.

Total traded volumes stood at 30,911 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Technical analysis showed palm oil faces resistance at 2,381 ringgit per tonne, and may revisit 2,285 ringgit, a high touched on Dec. 14, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Traders are hoping for Malaysia's crude palm oil export tax, set at zero percent for January, to spur shipments of the grade and bring down record stocks.   

In a bullish sign for palm oil, Brent crude rose above $108 a barrel on Tuesday as the outlook for demand improved on signs of progress in U.S. talks to resolve a budget crisis that threatens to dip the world's top oil consumer into recession again.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for January delivery was almost flat in late Asian trade. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange edged up 0.1 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1000 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2197    +0.00    2188    2200     116
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2280    +0.00    2267    2293    5778
  MY PALM OIL      MAR3    2341    -9.00    2332    2355   10892
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6812   -24.00    6788    6864  532656
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8792    +4.00    8766    8840  505078
  CBOT SOY OIL     JAN3   49.77    -0.02   49.67   50.07    7782
  NYMEX CRUDE      JAN3   87.66    +0.44   87.33   87.90    6216

  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=3.05 Malaysian ringgit)