VEGOILS-Palm falls on rival oils' weakness, soft ringgit caps losses

(Update with closing prices, add milestone) JAKARTA, March 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dropped for the second consecutive session on Monday to their lowest closing levels in nearly two months, pressured by weakness in rival vegetable oils, while a weak currency limited losses. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.6% to 4,305 ringgit ($971.78) a metric ton at closing, its lowest closing price since Jan. 31. "The contract is following weak external markets but the ringgit's weakness cushioned some losses," said a Kuala Lumpur-based trader. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 dropped 1.02%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 shed 1.1%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) BOc2 barely changed, up 0.02%. Palm oil tracks prices of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Malaysian ringgit, the contract's currency of trade, weakened 0.25% against the U.S. dollar. A soft ringgit makes palm more attractive to foreign currency holders. Exports of Malaysian palm oil products in the March 1-20 period are estimated to have dropped between 5% and 14.2% month-on-month, according to cargo surveyors. ($1 = 4.4300 ringgit) <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ cpo https://tmsnrt.rs/434tYdg ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Bernadette Christina; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Janane Venkatraman) ((Bernadette.christina@Thomsonreuters.com)) ((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 ))