11/12/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures inched up on Monday as slower-than-expected growth in stocks last month and firm export demand in the first ten days of December lifted sentiment.

Traders are expecting stronger export demand in the days to come, potentially cutting into record stocks notched in November and supporting benchmark palm oil futures that have fallen xx percent this year.

This decline marks the worst annual performance for palm oil futures since the financial crisis in 2008 although traders said this provides a massive buying opportunity for the edible oil that trades at a $350 discount to competing Argentine soyoil.

"We could see an upward swing in prices this week. The market will be pricing in more positive sentiment," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.

Benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 0.7 percent to 2,313 ringgit ($760) per tonne. Total traded volumes rose to 35,330 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed that November's inventory level rose 2.3 percent to a record 2.56 million tonnes from the previous month. Stocks grew at a weaker than expected pace, giving support to prices during afternoon trade.

Firm exports also gave support. Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance said Malaysian exports for Dec 1-10 rose 0.4 percent to 516,841 tonnes from 514,798 tonnes shipped during Nov 1-10.

Investors are banking on higher shipments in the next few weeks as planters rush to finish their annual tax free export quota allocation of 3.5 million tonnes which expires end of December.

Brent crude oil rose above $107 a barrel on Monday, snapping five straight days of losses after Chinese data showed the world's biggest energy consumer was rebounding after a slowdown.

In palm oil's competing markets, U.S. soyoil for January delivery fell 0.3 percent. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended almost flat.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1003 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2125   +14.00    2120    2125      10
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2223   +12.00    2205    2230    3017
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2313   +16.00    2288    2317   15582
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6860   +38.00    6802    6900  522018
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8752    +2.00    8722    8788  379386
  CBOT SOY OIL     JAN3   50.90    -0.23   50.78   51.21    5492
  NYMEX CRUDE      JAN3   86.30    +0.37   85.90   86.49   12304

  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 = 3.0555 Malaysian ringgit.