VEGOILS-Palm oil slips as rival oils, crude slump

JAKARTA, March 10 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Tuesday, tracking rival edible oils in Dalian and Chicago markets and crude oil prices.

The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for May delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 106 ringgit, or 2.32%, to 4,461 ringgit ($1,134.83) a metric ton by the midday break after falling to 4,370 ringgit earlier.

"The futures is tracking external Dalian palm oil, Chicago soy oil and crude oil performance while waiting for Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.

Published during the midday break, MPOB data showed Malaysia's palm oil stocks fell 3.9% in February from the previous month to a four-month low of 2.70 million metric tons.

Crude palm oil production declined 18.6% from January to 1.28 million tons, while palm oil exports fell 22.5% to 1.13 million tons.

Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 lost 2.5%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 fell 1.44%. Soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 declined 0.5%.

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

Oil prices fell on Tuesday after hitting an over three-year high in the prior session as U.S. President Donald Trump predicted the war in the Middle East could end soon, easing concerns about prolonged disruptions to global oil supplies.

Lower crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock.

Indonesia may revive a plan to launch a mandatory B50 grade of palm oil-based biodiesel in the middle of this year due to surging crude oil prices.

Palm oil FCPOc3 may bounce into a range of 4,513-4,546 ringgit per metric ton, following its stabilization around a support at 4,369, according to Reuters' technical analyst Wang Tao. TECH/C

($1 = 3.9310 ringgit)