24/05/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures slipped to their lowest in more than five months on Wednesday, tracking a downward trend in broader commodities markets as investor caution over the euro zone debt crisis resurfaced. 

Germany has dismissed a French-led call for euro zone governments to issue common bonds, raising fears of a potential Greek exit from the single currency ahead of a meeting of European leaders.

Palm oil futures were not spared from the broad-based commodities sell-off, losing almost 3 percent to close and just above the psychologically key level of 3,000 ringgit.

"The palm oil market was under pressure today from the beginning. External oilseed markets were down so palm oil fell in line with market sentiment," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Benchmark August palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 2.9 percent to close at 3,019 ringgit ($961) per tonne after touching a low of 2,993 ringgit, a level not seen since Dec. 19. 

Traded volumes stood at 55,312 lots of 25 tonnes each, more than double the usual 25,000 as traders rushed in to liquidate their positions.

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao expressed a bearish view, saying palm oil would drop further to 2,971 ringgit, the Dec. 15 low, as it has dropped below 3,019 ringgit.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance both reported a slight increase in shipments for Malaysian palm oil for May 1-20.

Despite healthy demand, concerns about the global economy were playing a bigger role in driving the market, traders said.  

"If you are talking about demand, it is definitely there. But with this kind of scenario, it's not like those days when the buyer will chase the seller," one trader said.

Oil fell on Wednesday on growing hopes of a deal being struck between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog, easing fears of oil supply disruption, while concerns over the crisis in the euro zone and a slowing Chinese economy weighed on demand.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for July slipped 1.6 percent while the most active Dalian soyoil September contract tumbled 2.1 percent. 

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUN2    3020   -90.00    3000    3060     534
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    3019   -95.00    2994    3077    9411
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2    3019   -91.00    2993    3076   29997
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    7910  -180.00    7890    8000  193914
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP2    9110  -194.00    9086    9200  396108
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL2   49.64    -0.82   49.51   50.55   12454
  NYMEX CRUDE      JUL2   90.90    -0.95   90.71   91.72   23055

  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=3.14 ringgit)