28/08/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose to a 6-week high on Monday, as traders continued to bet on tight global edible oil supplies with no sign of the drought easing in the soy-producing U.S. Midwest.

U.S. new-crop soybeans hit a contract high on Monday after farm newsletter Pro Farmer estimated U.S. soybean production would be worse than forecasts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A smaller supply of soybeans to be crushed into soybean oil had widened palm oil's discount to soybean oil to above $250 per tonne, shifting more demand to the cheaper tropical oil.

"There's a lot more upside for crude palm oil prices because so far palm oil has been lagging behind soybean oil," said James Ratnam, an analyst with TA Securities in Malaysia.

"The second thing is that there could be new stimulus measures coming out from China and the U.S. that could boost sentiment."   

The benchmark November 2012 contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 0.7 percent to close at 3,091 ringgit ($994) per tonne after touching an intraday high at 3,122 ringgit, a level last seen since July 17.

Total traded volumes stood at 25,999 lots of 25 tonnes each, just slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Palm oil will consolidate further in the range of 3,044-3,097 ringgit per tonne before climbing up towards 3,183 ringgit, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.

Demand appears to be picking up with Malaysia's exports rising 5.7 percent for the Aug 1-25 period from a month ago, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Saturday.

Traders will be watching for further indications on export trends as another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, releases its Aug 1-20 data together with Aug 1-25 data later in the day.

Refiners in Malaysia's top oil palm growing state of Sabah will pay millers less for edible oil from next month to preserve margins and better compete with Indonesia, the Business Times reported on Monday, in a move likely to hit planters' revenues.

Planters are also concerned by a possible return of El Nino to South East Asia as the hot and dry weather pattern can deal serious damage to palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Oil futures rose more than a dollar on Monday, with Brent climbing above $115 per barrel, on supply worries as Tropical Storm Isaac threatened to interrupt most U.S. offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

Other vegetable oil markets also traded higher on an oilseed supply squeeze due to the U.S. dry weather.

By 1005 GMT, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for December delivery gained 1 percent and the most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 1.4 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1005 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      SEP2    3032    +2.00    3032    3070     662
  MY PALM OIL      OCT2    3068   +17.00    3065    3098    3292
  MY PALM OIL      NOV2    3091   +22.00    3087    3122   16953
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN3    8284  +110.00    8240    8338  383742
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN3   10130  +142.00   10076   10156  495306
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   57.46    +0.56   57.07   57.85    8017
  NYMEX CRUDE      OCT2   97.14    +0.99   96.45   97.72   25004

  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=3.11 ringgit)