VEGOILS-Palm trades lower, set for second weekly loss

(Updates with midday break prices, analyst comment) By Dewi Kurniawati JAKARTA, April 11 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures reversed morning gains on Friday as it looked for new directions, with the contract heading for a second consecutive weekly loss. The benchmark June palm oil contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 27 ringgit, or 0.64%, to 4,173 ringgit ($941.14) a metric ton by the midday break. The contract fell 3.58% so far this week. "The futures is consolidating after recent drops before plotting a new direction based on this month's exports and production data," a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said. Malaysia's palm oil stocks posted their first rise in six months in March, as production recovered and imports rose sharply, offsetting strong festive demand, data from the industry regulator showed on Thursday. The stocks at the end of March rose 3.52% from the previous month to 1.56 million metric tons. Independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1 - 10 rose 52.8% to 301,113 metric tons, while according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services it rose 29.3% to 323,160 metric tons. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 added 0.97%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 gained 0.94%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) BOcv1 were inched up 0.02%. Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. Oil prices were little changed on Friday and set to drop for a second week on concerns that a prolonged trade war between the United States and China will curtail economic growth and crush crude consumption. O/R Weaker crude oil futures make palm a less attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. The ringgit MYR= , palm's currency of trade, strengthened 0.67% against the U.S. dollar, making the commodity more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies. ($1 = 4.4340 ringgit) (Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati; Editing by Janane Venkatraman) ((Dewi.Kurniawati@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 ))