RTRS:VEGOILS-Palm oil gains on upbeat demand outlook
* Demand prospects lift prices, soy supply fears support
* Palm oil to fall to 3,360 ringgit -technicals
* Exports for March 1-20 due Tuesday
(Updates prices, adds details)
By Chew Yee Kiat
SINGAPORE, March 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
edged higher on Monday as investors were upbeat about demand
prospects for the edible oil, while soybean supply fears in
drought-hit South America also supported prices.
Market players expect Malaysia's strong export trend to
continue as big buyers like China may increase edible oil
shipments, lifting prices that have gained 7.2 percent so far
this year.
"There's news that the Chinese government has purchased less
soybean oil domestically. That's a sign that their local supply
is low, so they may import more," said Alan Lim, an analyst with
Kenanga Investment Bank in Malaysia.
By the midday break, benchmark June palm oil futures
on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.2
percent at 3,404 ringgit ($1,116) per tonne.
Traded volumes on Monday were thin at 6,286 lots of 25
tonnes each, compared to the usual 12,500 lots.
Palm oil will retrace to 3,360 ringgit per tonne as it still
hovers around a resistance of 3,398 ringgit, said Reuters market
analyst Wang Tao.
Investors are keeping an eye out for cargo surveyors
Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance,
which reported monthly increases of 37 percent and 42 percent
respectively in Malaysian exports for March 1-15.
That represented an improvement compared to the first 10
days and the surveyor data also pointed to strengthening demand
from Europe, as exports to the region more than doubled from a
month ago.
The cargo surveyors will release export data for March 1-20
on Tuesday.
Market players are alo focusing on the official planting
forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture due at the end
of the month to help gauge soybean output for the year. Lower
soybean output means less for crushing into soyoil, allowing
palm oil to meet the shortfall.
Brent crude held above $126 a barrel on Monday, as prices
were supported by continued concerns over a potential supply
disruption from Iran and the prospect of a stronger U.S. economy
lifting oil demand.
In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil
contract for May delivery was almost flat while the most
active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian
Commodity exchange edged up 0.3 percent on strengthening demand
prospects.
Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0509 GMT
Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume
MY PALM OIL APR2 3412 +18.00 3400 3412 23
MY PALM OIL MAY2 3405 +5.00 3395 3412 471
MY PALM OIL JUN2 3404 +6.00 3393 3412 3707
CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2 8680 +26.00 8636 8690 101590
CHINA SOYOIL SEP2 9706 +32.00 9646 9720 316456
CBOT SOY OIL MAY2 55.49 +0.00 55.36 55.60 2721
NYMEX CRUDE APR2 107.38 +0.32 107.15 107.48 4429
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
