VEGOILS-Palm oil edges down on consolidation after recent uptick, heads for weekly loss

(Updates midday prices, adds analyst comment) SINGAPORE, March 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dipped slightly on Friday with the market set for its first weekly loss in five as it consolidated after a recent bullish episode, while lower edible and crude oil prices also added to the decline. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 3 ringgit, or 0.07% to 4,246 ringgit ($896.16) a metric ton at midday. The contract is set for a weekly loss of almost 1%, its first weekly decline since Feb. 23. The market is in a "consolidation mode" after a general uptick in prices since early March, which was "basically premised on supply constraints both in Malaysia and Indonesia," said Paramalingam Supramaniam, director at Selangor-based brokerage Pelindung Bestari. While a gradual increase in palm production is anticipated moving forward, expectations of higher Indonesian tax and levy in April will likely keep prices supportive, Supramaniam added. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 fell 0.88%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 was down 0.84%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade BOcv1 lost 0.88%. Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market. Oil prices sank on the possibility of a nearing ceasefire in Gaza, which could ease geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, and as a stronger U.S. dollar and faltering U.S. gasoline demand weighed. O/R Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. The Malaysian ringgit MYR= , palm's currency of trade, weakened 0.53% against the dollar. Palm oil may retrace into the 4,190-4,212 ringgit range again, following its failure to break resistance at 4,326 ringgit per ton, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. TECH/C ($1 = 4.7380 ringgit) <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ cpo https://tmsnrt.rs/4a3l9Bj ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Cassandra Yap; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Venkatraman) (([email protected];)) ((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 ))