VEGOILS-Palm records third weekly loss, lowest in 28 weeks

By Dewi Kurniawati

JAKARTA, April 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures reversed earlier gains, tracking rival oils at Dalian and booked a third straight weekly loss on Friday, their lowest decline in 28 weeks.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 36 ringgit, or 0.9%, to 3,975 ringgit ($901.36) a metric ton at the close.

The futures lost 5.63% this week.

"The futures seem to be consolidating and trading in the range of 4000 to 4080 ringgit while waiting for new lead in the market," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 was down 0.05%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 declined 0.12%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) BOcv1 rose 0.67%.

Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market.

Malaysia maintained its May export tax for crude palm oil at 10% and lowered its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Tuesday.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-15 are estimated to have risen between 13.6% and 17% from a month ago, said cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services and independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia.

The Malaysian ringgit, the contract currency of trade, largely traded flat against the U.S. dollar. A weaker ringgit makes the contract more attractive for foreign currency holders.

($1 = 4.4100 ringgit)

For a table on Malaysian physical palm oil prices, including refined oil, Reuters Terminal users can double click on or type OILS/MY01. To view freight rates from Peninsula Malaysia/Sumatra to China, India, Pakistan and Rotterdam, please key in OILS/ASIA2 and press enter, or double click between the brackets.  Reuters Terminal users can see cash and futures edible oil prices by double clicking on the codes in the brackets: To go to the next page in the same chain, hit F12. To go back, hit F11. Vegetable oils                       OILS/ASIA1 Malaysian palm oil exports           SGSPALM1   CBOT soyoil futures                  0#BO:      CBOT soybean futures                 0#S:       Indian solvent                       SOLVENT01  Dalian Commodity Exchange            DC/MENU   Dalian soyoil futures                0#DBY:   Dalian refined palm oil futures      0#DCP:   Zhengzhou rapeseed oil               0#COI:   European edible oil prices/trades    OILS/E