KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday as traders took up positions ahead of a slew of industry reports that could shed light on a decline in vegetable oil supplies.
The US Department of Agriculture's supply-demand report on Monday will update the agency's crop forecasts in the light of hot and dry weather hurting US soy yields that could lift soyoil's premium to palm oil.
On the same day, industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board will issue August stocks data that may show declines for a second month as exports and local demand outstrip production during a key Muslim festival.
But cargo surveyors are likely to show a drop in Malaysian exports for the period September 1-10 as buying normalises, although some traders say top importers India and China are waiting for prices to fall still more before committing.
"The festival season is still ongoing but there will be some moderation in buying for some time," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.
"Palm oil will still derive some strength as soyoil supply tightens in the U.S and there are still ample stocks of palm oil despite the drawdown," the trader added.
By the midday break, the benchmark November palm oil on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.5 percent at 3,041 ringgit ($1,016.55) per tonne.
Exchange volumes stood at 4,959 lots at 25 tonnes each versus the usual 12,000 lots in muted trading ahead of the industry data next week.
A bullish target of 3,119 ringgit per tonne is intact for Malaysian palm oil as indicated by both a "morning star" and its wave pattern, Reuters analyst Wang Tao said.
Brent crude oil edged up towards $115 a barrel on Friday, after falling more than a dollar in the previous session, supported by storm threats and uncertainty about US President Barack Obama's latest plan to revive the world's largest economy.
Other vegetable oil markets were muted ahead of the US and Malaysian industry data next week.
US soyoil for October delivery fell 0.3 percent in Asian trade. The most active May 2012 soy oil on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange was almost flat.
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