03/04/2012 (Business Recorder) - Asking prices on the European vegetable oil market continued to firm on Monday on follow-through speculative buying on Friday's bullish USDA plantings and quarterly stocks report, market sources said.

"The bullish USDA data continued to spur fund buying and the European cash market followed the trend. Buyers here remained cautious at the current high levels trying to stay on the sidelines in the hope for a break in the upward trend soon," one broker said.

At 1700 GMT CBOT soyoil was between 1.17 and 1.39 cents per lb supported by continued technical buying.

Liquid oils - soyoil, rapeoil and sunoil - were offered between five and 10 euros per tonne up from Friday following CBOT soyoil and strong rapeseed futures. May/July EU rapeoil changed hands at 980 euros per tonne fob exmill, and both Aug/Oct and Nov/Jan traded at 980 and 982 euros fob, one euro down from Friday, when rapeoil soared on the lower than expected USDA soybean plantings report, causing concerns over global oilseed stocks.

Palm oil was offered between $10 and $15 a tonne up from Friday in reaction to Friday's USDA data which caused Malaysian palm oil futures to close 70 to 99 ringgit per tonne up lifting levels to over 3,500 ringgit for the first time in a year.

July/Sept RBD palm olein changed hands between $1,165 and $1,177 a tonne fob Malaysia, up $9.50 from Friday, and Oct/Dec traded $7.50 up between $1,160 and $1,165. July/Sept crude palm oil traded between $1,180 and $1,190, up $22.50 from Friday.

Lauric oils were offered as much as $40 a tonne up from Friday, following the trend of rivals palm oil and soyoil, but without attracting buyers and no deals were reported.