FCPO Related News (Thurs, Dec 6)

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures slipped 0.3 percent on Wednesday as expectations of record stocks in November weighed on sentiment, although traders are looking at higher exports and slowing output this month.

Traders are counting on demand to kick in as forward palm oil futures are at a discount to the 3-month benchmark on high stocks. A Reuters survey showed palm oil stocks in November probably grew 2.8 percent to a record 2.58 million tonnes. More orders are expected from China, the world's No.2 edible oil buyer, before the government imposes stricter quality rules on palm oil cargoes from Jan. 2013. Higher exports could support palm oil futures that have lost nearly 28 percent this year in their worst annual performance since the 2008 financial crisis. "The market dropped a little on stocks, the bottom is nearing. We can't be going any lower as exports are going higher in December and production will come off," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 0.3 percent at 2,287 ringgit ($750) per tonne after treading higher in the morning session. The previous day, the contract fell to 2,279, its lowest since Nov. 12. Total traded volumes rose to 37,113 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots. Reuters market analyst Wang Tao kept a bearish target of 2,200 ringgit per tonne as there was no indication on a possible bullish reversal on this trend. Malaysian crude palm oil shipments are expected to rise in the next few weeks as planters rush to exhaust their annual tax-free export quota allocation totalling 3.5 million tones and which is set to expire at the end of December. While this may support prices, for now, palm oil is treading lower compared to other commodity markets.

Brent crude edged above $110 a barrel on Wednesday, after two sessions of losses, as investors switched their focus from the United States fiscal crisis to hopes that growth in top energy consumer China to pick up sooner than expected. In palm oil's competing markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery edged up 0.5 percent as traders grew concerned that unfriendly crop weather would cut global soy supplies. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also rose 0.7 percent.

BMD CPO futures opened higher this morning following higher CBOT soy oil prices due to unfavourable weather. Today's Support and Resistance for benchmark February contract is located around 2,320 and 2,275 respectively.