* Tracks rally in U.S. soybeans on dry weather worries * Palm oil to rise to 3,196 ringgit per tonne -technicals (Updates prices, adds details) By Chew Yee Kiat SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose to a near three-week high on Tuesday, tracking a rally in U.S. soybeans to four-month highs on investor concern that hot, dry weather in South America could hurt production. A weaker ringgit currency against the U.S. dollar also raised demand prospects for crude palm oil as the ringgit-priced feedstock now seems cheaper, helping the vegetable oil erase earlier losses to trade marginally higher this year. "External factors are still uncertain and we will have to look at export numbers to see if the market will breach 3,200 ringgit," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, referring to Malaysian export data for Feb. 1-15 which will be released on Wednesday. By the midday break, benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.4 percent to 3,182 ringgit ($1,046) per tonne. Prices earlier hit an intraday high of 3,186 ringgit, a level last seen on Jan. 25. Traded volumes stood at 10,564 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly thinner than the usual 12,500 lots. Reuters market analyst Wang Tao took a bullish view, saying palm oil is expected to rise to 3,196 ringgit per tonne based on chart analysis. On the demand side, Malaysian palm oil exports from Feb. 1 to 10 fell 7.7 percent to 342,982 tonnes from a month ago, said cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services while another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a smaller decline of 4.3 percent to 337,618 tonnes. The market is watchful of weak demand for Malaysian crude palm oil as the feedstock is now selling at a steeper discount to futures prices, traders said. Some traders attributed the decline in exports to the shift in orders to top producer Indonesia, which is selling at a discount due to its tax structure. But the market expects crude palm oil exports to pick up in coming weeks after Malaysia issued its tax-free export quotas of 3 million tonnes. Brent crude futures slipped towards $117 on Tuesday, pushed by demand growth concerns in Europe after ratings agency Moody's downgraded six countries in the region, but fears of supply disruption helped stem the slide. The U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery was slightly down 0.2 percent in Asian trade after earlier rally on South American weather fears. The most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange gained 0.3 percent. Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0501 GMT Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume MY PALM OIL FEB2 0 +0.00 0 3131 0 MY PALM OIL MAR2 3167 +7.00 3158 3177 269 MY PALM OIL APR2 3182 +14.00 3155 3186 4033 CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2 8270 +14.00 8254 8312 65934 CHINA SOYOIL SEP2 9334 +24.00 9320 9376 224624 CBOT SOY OIL MAR2 52.94 -0.11 52.81 53.05 2286 NYMEX CRUDE MAR2 100.55 -0.36 100.37 100.74 6627 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 * Bursa Malaysia holds its annual Palm and Lauric Oils Conference & Exhibition Price Outlook 2012 from March 5 to 7 in Kuala Lumpur. For details, see www.pocmalaysia.com ($1=3.045 ringgit)

Source