SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures edged up 0.4 percent on Tuesday on strong exports, but gains were limited by caution ahead of a key US report this week that could show a rise in soybean stocks, which could mean larger supplies of competing edible oil.
Any rise in soyoil supply comes as Malaysian palm oil stocks hit a 21 month high in September, potentially pressuring benchmark palm oil futures that have lost more than 26 percent so far this year.
"The market is all friendlier on the exports data. Also, the U.S Department of Agriculture report will set the tone for the rest of the week," said a Malaysian trader in Kuala Lumpur.
By the midday break, benchmark December palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 11 ringgit to 2,804 ringgit ($897.13) per tonne.
Total traded volumes were lower at 8,210 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 12,500 lots.
Reuters analyst Wang Tao said palm oil could resume its fall towards 2,690 ringgit per tonne, as a rebound from the Oct. 6 low of 2,754 ringgit could have been completed.
Malaysian palm oil stocks surged in September thanks to high production, which may attract buying from large consumers such as India and China.
Also, buyers of Indonesian crude palm oil are buying Malaysian grade after Jakarta made refined palm oil export taxes lower than crude, leading to bigger than expected shipments out of Malaysia.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported a 31.8 percent jump in Malaysian palm oil exports in Oct. 1-10 to 496,918 tonnes from the same period a month ago. Crude palm oil shipments alone were up 63.3 percent.
Palm oil is still the cheapest edible oil, holding a $112 a tonne discount to competing soybean oil from Argentina.
Pakistan is expected to buy palm oil soon to restock after the Eid al-Fitr and India and China, the world's top buyers of edible oils, are also in the market.
China needs to restock after the Golden week holidays in early October and India is still buying ahead of Diwali at the end of the month.
Brent crude held near $109 on Tuesday on cautious optimism that European banks may avert a financial crisis, supporting prices of other vegetable oils that are used as a feedstock for bio diesel.
US soyoil for Dec delivery rose 0.7 percent in Asian trade. The market was also awaiting the US Department of Agriculture crop production and supply report due on Wednesday that is likely to show higher soy stocks.
China's most active May 2012 soybean oil contract barely moved.
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