14/03/2012 (Business Recorder) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged up on Tuesday, as traders bet energy markets would hold firm and eyed the outlook for US corn plantings, which could take more acreage from soybeans and limit global edible oil supply this year.

An unexpected rise in Malaysian palm oil stocks on Monday reined in the market, which has gained 6 percent so far this year, although a recovery in exports for the first ten days of March kept investors upbeat.

The rise in stocks in February was due to a fall in exports, but data for early March showed a 32 percent surge in exports as top buyer India snapped up cargoes and local planters won tax free crude palm oil export quotas to feed their refineries overseas.

Traders were also waiting on official planting forecasts from the US Department of Agriculture, due on March 30, to get a reading on likely output for the coming year, with corn plantings expected to rise on demand from China.

"The market is looking at the US acreage battle that comes up in a couple of weeks.

The palm oil price moves will be determined by external events, be it the Fed, crude oil, and US soy," said a trader with a foreign brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.

Benchmark May palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.5 percent to close at 3,365 ringgit ($1,111) per tonne.

Traded volumes on Tuesday stood at 22,597 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the usual 25,000 lots, as some traders shunned big moves ahead of the US Fed decision.

Analysts said weaker Malaysian production for this year will support prices at a time when demand for the tropical oil is strong and there is a shortfall in soyoil supply following a severe drought in South America that withered crops.

"Exports will improve but the refined oil business will shift to Indonesia because of the tax and margin advantage," said another Malaysian trader in reference to Jakarta's move last year to slash export taxes of the processed grade.

The most active US soyoil contract for May delivery rose 1.1 percent in Asian trade in part due to the looming acreage battle between soybeans and corn.

The most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange also rose 0.6 percent as China's demand for edible oil remained healthy.