KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia has maintained its February export tax for crude palm oil at 8% and lowered its reference price, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Tuesday.

The world's second largest palm exporter calculated a reference price of 3,571.39 ringgit ($754.57) per metric ton for February. The January reference price was 3,679.50 ringgit a ton.

The export tax structure starts at 3% for crude palm oil in a range of 2,250 ringgit to 2,400 ringgit a ton. The maximum tax rate is set at 8% when prices exceed 3,450 ringgit a ton. ($1=4.7330 ringgit) (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)