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VEGOILS-Palm oil ends lower as investors turn cautious on demand

(Recasts, adds SGS data, trader quote)

* Malaysia June 1-20 CPO output down 1.8 pct -growers' group

* Ringgit falls to 3.7670 per dollar

* For technical analyses, click

By Anuradha Raghu

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures closed lower on

Thursday, retreating from a one-week high as investors turned cautious over

fading export demand, though a weak ringgit currency limited losses.

Investors are watching for data on demand and crude palm output in Malaysia,

the world's second-largest producer, for indication on whether stockpiles could

continue to swell after hitting a six-month high of 2.24 million tonnes at the

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end of May.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported that exports of Malaysian

palm oil products for June 1-25 rose 1.3 percent to 1,400,162 tonnes compared

with May 1-25.

Fellow cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance, however, reported

shipment volumes eased 0.8 percent in the period as top buyers India and China

cut back purchases, signalling that demand growth may fizzle out.

"Good exports were noted in May and June ... Exports in July are estimated

to be lower," said one trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Association, a group of growers, estimates that

production dipped by 1.8 percent between June 1-20 from a month earlier, with a

drop in yields in top-growing state Sabah.

The September palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives

exchange ended 0.3 percent lower at 2,264 ringgit ($603) a tonne on Thursday,

shaving off gains after climbing to their highest since June 17 at 2,285 ringgit

earlier in the day.

Total traded volume was 31,280 lots of 25 tonnes each, below the usual

35,000 lots.

Palm received some support from the Malaysian ringgit, which fell

for a third session to as low as 3.7670 per dollar, stoking buying interest from

foreign customers.

Elsewhere, reports of laggard soybean planting in parts of the United

States' main grain belt helped to underpin soyoil markets tracked by palm,

though the edible oil struggled to hold on to gains.

The U.S. July soyoil contract was down 0.2 percent at 33.20 U.S.

cents a pound in late Asian trade, having earlier touched 33.47 U.S. cents. The

most active January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity

Exchange gained 0.1 percent.

Soybean planting is behind in several key states, including Missouri, Kansas

and top grower Illinois. Smaller amounts of soybeans for crushing into soyoil

could channel demand to palm oil, a common food and fuel substitute.

In other markets, oil prices were steady on Thursday as an unexpected build

in U.S. gasoline inventories offset a higher than forecast draw in crude stocks.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1022 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL JUL5 2260 +2.00 2258 2265 34

MY PALM OIL AUG5 2265 -3.00 2263 2282 2504

MY PALM OIL SEP5 2264 -6.00 2263 2285 16153

CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN6 5152 +52.00 5140 5210 812734

CHINA SOYOIL JAN6 5864 +4.00 5862 5942 594190

CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 33.21 -0.30 33.17 33.47 5869

INDIA PALM OIL JUN5 452.40 -0.30 452.00 453.80 651

INDIA SOYOIL AUG5 584.30 -1.70 584.30 587.50 30795

NYMEX CRUDE AUG5 60.12 -0.15 60.05 60.46 21128

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne

CBOT soy oil in U.S. cents per pound

Dalian soy oil and RBD palm olein in Chinese yuan per tonne

India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg

Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel

($1 = 3.7560 ringgit)

($1 = 6.2094 Chinese yuan)

($1 = 63.60 Indian rupees)

(Editing by Prateek Chatterjee and David Goodman)