RTRS:VEGOILS-Palm oil rises to 2-week high, export data eyed
* Palm oil tracking gains in soybeans, soybean oil
* China to halt regular state soy sales from this week
* Traders eye Nov. 1-20 export data on Tuesday
* Palm oil to rise to 2,588 ringgit -technicals
(Updates prices, adds SGS export data)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
rose to their highest in two weeks on Monday, tracking gains in
soybeans and rival soybean oil, although caution ahead of export
data kept gains in check.
China, the world's top soy buyer, will temporarily halt
regular state sales of soy from this week as Beijing starts a
stockpiling programme for the oilseed, an official think tank
said on Monday.
The move came after heavy crush losses and weak demand that
prompted Chinese buyers to cancel purchases of some 600,000
tonnes of U.S. soybeans over the past weeks.
Dalian soybean oil prices rose as analysts said some
crushers could use a possible shortage of supply as an excuse to
start hiking soy product prices, a move that could benefit
competing palm oil.
"Palm oil is just tracking soybean oil's move, and
technicals are looking bullish as well," said a dealer with a
foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
By the close, the benchmark February contract on
the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had advanced 1.2 percent
to 2,459 ringgit ($804) per tonne, but off the figure of 2,479
ringgit touched earlier, the highest since Nov. 5.
Total traded volumes stood at 39,326 lots of 25 tonnes each,
higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Technicals showed palm oil could rise to 2,588 ringgit per
tonne as it has broken above resistance at 2,447 ringgit,
Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov. 1 to 15 fell
0.1 percent to 769,087 tonnes from 769,534 tonnes a month ago,
cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday.
Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance,
reported a drop of 1.2 percent in exports for the same period.
Both cargo surveyors will release Nov. 1-20 export data on
Tuesday.
U.S. soybeans rose 1 percent on Monday, buoyed by
expectations of renewed buying after prices slid to their lowest
in five months in the previous session as the world's top buyer
China cancelled purchases.
The gains in soybeans supported U.S. soyoil for December
delivery, which climbed 1.2 percent in late Asian trade,
while the most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on
the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.6 percent higher.
In related markets, Brent crude rose towards $110 a barrel
on Monday as escalating violence in the Middle East fuelled
concerns over oil supplies from the region and as hopes rose
that a U.S. budget crisis could be averted.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1010 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL DEC2 2386 +26.00 2380 2403 873
MY PALM OIL JAN3 2430 +34.00 2421 2448 9573
MY PALM OIL FEB3 2459 +30.00 2451 2479 17630
CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3 6772 +58.00 6710 6782 441270
CHINA SOYOIL MAY3 8450 +46.00 8396 8470 743280
CBOT SOY OIL DEC2 47.62 +0.57 46.84 47.66 5916
NYMEX CRUDE JAN3 87.87 +0.95 87.11 87.99 18012
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
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel
