16/08/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures gained slightly on Wednesday as last-minute buying on rising exports for the first half of August erased losses posted earlier in the session.

The Southeast Asian country's palm oil exports showed signs of recovery after declines in July, bringing some cheer to the market that has lost almost 10 percent this year.

But prices were still hovering above a 10-month low hit the previous day as traders bet on improving soybean conditions in the United States to supply more oilseeds to be crushed into vegetable oil. 

"Exports are slightly better compared to last month, but the thing is, market sentiment is still bearish," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

"The physical cash market is weak, and with that in mind it is difficult for futures to go up," the trader said.

At closing, the benchmark October palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange inched up just 0.1 percent to 2,862 ringgit ($916) per tonne. The contract hit a low of 2,820 ringgit on Tuesday, a level not seen since Oct. 18.

Total traded volumes stood at 27,064 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

On the technicals front, palm oil will keep hovering above a support at 2,838 ringgit, with a good chance of rebounding into the 2,889-2,910 ringgit range, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Exports rose 7.6 percent from a month ago to more than 600,000 tonnes for the Aug. 1-15 period on higher shipments to China and India, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a 10.3 percent increase in exports for the same period.

The market is also watching out for a possible return of El Nino as Australia's weather bureau said on Tuesday there were clear signs the crop-damaging weather pattern was developing in the eastern Pacific.

In related news, shares of Wilmar International fell 10 percent to more than a three-year low after the world's largest listed palm oil firm reported earnings that missed expectations on weaker margins.

Brent crude oil futures held steady around $114, near a three-month high, supported by supply disruption concerns and hopes of central bank intervention to bolster the ailing global economy.

Other vegetable oil markets also recovered after chalking losses the previous day. By 1010 GMT, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for December delivery inched up 0.3 percent and the most active January 2013 soyoil contract  on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was up by 0.2 percent.     

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1011 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2       0    +0.00       0       0       0
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    2811    +0.00    2780    2812     856
  MY PALM OIL      OCT2    2862    +4.00    2826    2863   14568
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    7708   +46.00    7630    7730  298532
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3    9678   +16.00    9626    9710  520820
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   53.60    +0.17   53.28   53.74    4274
  NYMEX CRUDE      SEP2   93.17    -0.25   92.77   93.52   20453

  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
  ($1=3.13 ringgit)