07/09/2011 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to their lowest in almost two weeks on Tuesday as investors fretted over the worsening euro zone debt crisis that could put the brakes on economic growth and commodity demand. 
   
In the past few weeks, the palm oil market has been supported by solid export demand in August and prospects of a stock draw in No.2 palm oil producer Malaysia.
   
"After a few months of strong exports, we expect the buying trend to slow a little. And of course, all eyes are on the debt crisis in Europe and the U.S. as this could slow economic growth," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage. 
   
The benchmark November crude palm oil contract FCPOc3 dropped as much as 1.3 percent to 2,978 ringgit  ($1,000.487)-- a level unseen since Aug. 26. The contract later settled at 2,985 ringgit. 
   
Traded volumes stood at 23,014 lots at 25 tonnes each versus the usual 25,000 lots as more trading interest came back after the long holidays last week. 
   
Technicals turned negative with Reuters analyst Wang Tao saying a bearish target at 2,887 ringgit has been established for palm oil as a medium-term downtrend that started from the June 3 high of 3,465 ringgit per tonne remains intact.  
   
Palm oil exports for August dipped by a slight 0.5 percent from a month ago, indicating strong demand. Traders said this could cut into high stocks given lower production last month as estate workers took leave for the Eid holidays marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. 
   
September exports are expected to slip further as importers like India and China wait for prices to come under pressure before committing to purchases, traders said. 
   
Brent crude oil rose above $111 per barrel on Tuesday as expectations of a U.S. economic stimulus outweighed fears of recession and worries over the euro zone debt crisis.  
   
Vegetable oil markets were still pricing in concerns over a global economic slowdown although worries that hot and dry conditions in the U.S. Midwest could hurt corn and soy yields supported prices to some extent. 
   
U.S. soyoil for September delivery dropped 1.1 percent in Asian trade. The most active May 2012 soy oil  on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange lost 1 percent. 
     
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1102 GMT
                                                                    
  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  M'ASIA PALM OIL  SEP1    3090   -44.00    3090    3114     755
  M'ASIA PALM OIL  OCT1    3038   -41.00    3038    3060    1738
  M'ASIA PALM OIL  NOV1    2985   -33.00    2978    3014   11983
  M'ASIA PALM OIL  DEC1    2975   -28.00    2962    2999    5776
  DALIAN SOY OIL   MAY2   10380  -108.00   10296   10430  659984
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC1   57.83    -0.43   57.50   57.98     238
  NYMEX CRUDE      OCT1   84.89    -1.56   83.20   86.50   67480
                                                                    
  Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
  CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound
  Dalian soy oil in Chinese yuan per tonne
  Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
  ($1 = 2.977 Malaysian Ringgit)