VEGOILS-Palm falls on lower demand, profit-taking

* Palm up 3.1 pct this week, best weekly gain in six

* Market sees lower production, demand to year-end: trader

(Updates latest prices, quote)

By Emily Chow

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures

declined in trade on Friday, weighed down by lower demand and

profit-taking, but posted their biggest weekly gain since

mid-August.

Benchmark palm oil futures for December on the

Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were down 1.8 percent at

2,675 ringgit ($651) a tonne by the end of the trading day.

The contract hit its highest since April 21 at 2,729 ringgit

on Thursday, and has gained 3.1 percent this week in its best

performance since the week ended Aug. 12.

Traded volumes stood at 49,439 lots of 25 tonnes each on

Friday evening, higher than the 2015 average of 44,600.

"The market has been holding at these levels this week, some

profit-taking is expected," said a trader from Kuala Lumpur,

referring to palm's traded range of 2,680-2,700 ringgit in the

last four sessions.

"We are looking at lower production and demand until the

year end."

Malaysian production has been rising in line with the

seasonal trend, but output has been lower on a yearly basis due

to the lagging effects of a crop-damaging El Nino.

Output rose 7.3 percent in August, but registered the lowest

level for August since 2012. (MYPOMP-CPOTT)

Exports during Sept. 1-20 declined 11-12 percent from the

corresponding period last month, cargo surveyor data showed.

Demand from top consumers China and India usually slows

towards the end of the year, as cold temperatures solidify the

tropical oil and make it less appealing to buyers.

Another trader said the market was also moved by comments

from a leading analyst at an industry conference in India. Palm

prices are seen falling from current levels to 2,200 ringgit

over the next two months on a production recovery, said Dorab

Mistry.

But another leading analyst, Thomas Mielke, forecast palm

oil would rise to 3,000 ringgit in the last quarter of the year.

The Chicago Board of Trade's soybean oil December contract

fell 0.7 percent, while the January soybean oil contract

on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.3 percent.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1038 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL OCT6 2859 -50.00 2859 2905 719

MY PALM OIL NOV6 2727 -56.00 2727 2780 8558

MY PALM OIL DEC6 2675 -50.00 2673 2728 24333

CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN7 5734 +12.00 5706 5784 1028704

CHINA SOYOIL JAN7 6394 +16.00 6360 6448 511508

CBOT SOY OIL DEC6 33.96 -0.24 33.82 34.27 9106

INDIA PALM OIL SEP6 592.00 -4.90 590.40 595.9 1477

INDIA SOYOIL OCT6 664.6 -6.20 662.7 669.5 39310

NYMEX CRUDE NOV6 46.39 +0.07 45.44 46.55 120788

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 = 4.1100 ringgit)

($1 = 66.6650 Indian rupees)

($1 = 6.6697 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu/Ruth

Pitchford)