NEW DELHI, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures inched lower in early trade on Monday on slowing exports and tracking weakness in rival soyoil.
The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 12 ringgit, or 0.32%, to 3,699 ringgit ($790.05) in early trade.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in the first half of December fell 13.6% month-on-month to 591,490 metric tons, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday.
* Malaysia's palm oil stocks at the end of November fell for the first time in seven months as production slumped more than exports, data from industry regulator showed on Tuesday.
* Soyoil futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.04%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
* Indonesia plans to set its crude palm oil reference price at $767.51 per metric ton for the Dec. 16-31 period, a trade ministry official said last week, down from $795.14 in the first half of the month.
* India's palm oil imports in November jumped to a near three-month high, up nearly 23% from October as refiners preferred the tropical oil over rival soyoil and sunflower oil due to steep discounts, a leading trade body said.
* Palm oil may bounce to 3,748 ringgit per metric ton, driven by a wave c.
MARKET NEWS
* Oil prices rose nearly 1% in early Asian trade, supported by lower exports from Russia and as attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea raised concerns of oil supply disruption.
* Asia stocks slipped in a subdued start to a week where Japan's central bank might edge further away from its uber-easy policies, while a key reading on U.S. inflation is expected to underpin market pricing of interest rate cuts there.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0900 Germany Ifo Business Climate New Dec
0900 Germany Ifo Curr Conditions New Dec
0900 Germany Ifo Expectations New Dec ($1 = 4.6820 ringgit) (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
