VEGOILS-Palm hits 3-week low in third day of losses on demand concerns

* Palm charts third straight day of losses

* High stocks, slow demand weigh on market sentiment -

trader

* EU backs plan to ban palm oil from biofuels

(Updates with closing prices, quote)

By Emily Chow

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures

fell to a three-week low on Thursday on concerns that demand

could take a hit from a European Union move towards banning the

use of palm oil in biofuels.

The benchmark palm oil contract for April delivery

on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.4 percent

at 2,476 ringgit ($626.20) a tonne at the end of the trading

day, its third consecutive day of declines.

Earlier in the session, it touched 2,462 ringgit, its

weakest since Dec. 26.

Trading volumes stood at 48,741 lots of 25 tonnes each at

the close of trade.

Traders said prices fell initially after a move by European

lawmakers to approve a plan to ban the use of palm oil in motor

fuels from 2021.

"There are (also) concerns over high stocks and the lack of

demand. There is no bullish news in the market," said one

trader.

Malaysia and Indonesia on Thursday criticised the European

Parliament for backing a ban on the use of palm oil in biofuels,

calling the move a protectionist trade barrier and a form of

"crop apartheid".

A large portion of European palm oil imports are used to

make biofuels, giving the palm industry a cause for concern as

they fear a decline in overall demand.

Palm oil shipments in the first half of January already

showed falling demand, according to cargo surveyor data.

Intertek Testing Services showed a 7.4 percent decline during

Jan. 1-15 versus the previous month, while Societe Generale de

Surveillance reported a 2.8 percent decline for the same time

period.

Rising production forecasts for 2018 in Malaysia and

Indonesia by leading vegetable oils analyst James Fry also

weighed on the market, said another trader.

In other related edible oils, the March soybean oil contract

on the Chicago Board of Trade rose as much as 0.2

percent, while the May soybean oil on the Dalian Commodity

Exchange slipped 0.03 percent.

The Dalian May palm oil contract was up 0.2 percent.

Palm oil tracks the performance of other edible oils, as

they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1100 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL FEB8 2469 -13.00 2457 2495 464

MY PALM OIL MAR8 2469 -13.00 2460 2503 5958

MY PALM OIL APR8 2474 -11.00 2462 2508 22925

CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY8 5216 +10.00 5170 5218 293370

CHINA SOYOIL MAY8 5722 -2.00 5684 5726 234116

CBOT SOY OIL MAR8 32.58 +0.07 32.42 32.68 10643

INDIA PALM OIL JAN8 552.50 +1.00 551.20 554.3 595

INDIA SOYOIL JAN8 735.3 -2.40 735.3 739 7010

NYMEX CRUDE FEB8 63.94 -0.03 63.85 64.35 25691

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 = 3.9540 ringgit)

($1 = 63.8400 Indian rupees)

($1 = 6.4200 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Emily Chow, Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi, Editing

by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Gareth Jones)