09/02/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil jumped to a near three-week high on Wednesday as the market reopened after a two-day break, tracking broader markets, such as soyoil, ahead of a key U.S. crop report on Thursday. 

The U.S. soyoil contract for March on the Chicago Board of Trade has gained 1.8 percent this week on prospects of higher demand, setting the stage for a palm oil rally.

Investors are keeping an eye on the February crop production as well as the supply and demand reports set to be issued by the U.S Department of Agriculture on Thursday.

"Last week's low was most likely to be the bottom. The market's also higher today, with China buying more in coming months to replenish stocks after the Lunar New Year," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur, referring to a six-week low hit by palm oil last week.

"We can expect some short term rally ahead of the USDA reports tomorrow," added the dealer.

Benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 2.3 percent to close at 3,155 ringgit ($1,051) per tonne, but off the earlier high of 3,158 ringgit, a level last seen on Jan. 26.

Traded volumes stood at 24,972 lots of 25 tonnes each, just slightly thinner than the usual 25,000 lots.

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said palm oil futures will hover around a resistance at 3,115 ringgit per tonne for one or two trading sessions before climbing towards 3,165 ringgit.

On the demand side, Malaysian palm oil exports for January eased close to 12 percent and 13 percent, according to cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance.

Some traders attributed the fall to the shift in orders to Indonesia, which slashed export taxes for processed oils.

To help refiners compete with Indonesian rivals, Malaysia has issued this year's tax-free crude palm oil export quotas of 3 million after weeks of delay, sources said on Sunday.

Trading sources also said Malaysian palm oil exporters had stopped supplying most of the 30,000 tonnes of the staple that Iran buys each month from the Southeast Asian producer as Western financial sanctions against Tehran stymie payments.

In related news, Indonesian palm oil firm Bumitama Gunajaya Agro, which shelved its Singapore initial public offering in June, now plans to raise about S$200 million through a listing in the second quarter, sources familiar with the matter said.

Brent crude futures held above $116 a barrel on Wednesday, as uncertainty over Greece's ability to resolve its debt problems was offset by a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories.

In other vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for March delivery and the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange both inched up 0.7 percent.     

 Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1000 GMT
                                                                 
  Contract                    Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL           FEB2    3110   +58.00    3110    3110     175
  MY PALM OIL           MAR2    3158   +76.00    3101    3158    1517
  MY PALM OIL           APR2    3155   +70.00    3100    3158   14051
  CHINA PALM OLEIN  SEP2    8230   +82.00    8134    8230  122210
  CHINA SOYOIL          SEP2    9302  +102.00    9188    9304  391112
  CBOT SOY OIL          MAR2   52.56    +0.39   52.06   52.76    5567
  NYMEX CRUDE         MAR2   99.35    +0.94   98.60   99.65   19156
                                                                 
  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=3.001 Malaysian ringgit)