20/11/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest in two weeks on Monday, tracking gains in soybeans and rival soybean oil, although caution ahead of export data kept gains in check.     

China, the world's top soy buyer, will temporarily halt regular state sales of soy from this week as Beijing starts a stockpiling programme for the oilseed, an official think tank said on Monday.

The move came after heavy crush losses and weak demand that prompted Chinese buyers to cancel purchases of some 600,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans over the past weeks.

Dalian soybean oil prices rose as analysts said some crushers could use a possible shortage of supply as an excuse to start hiking soy product prices, a move that could benefit competing palm oil.    

"Palm oil is just tracking soybean oil's move, and technicals are looking bullish as well," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

By the close, the benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had advanced 1.2 percent to 2,459 ringgit ($804) per tonne, but off the figure of 2,479 ringgit touched earlier, the highest since Nov. 5.

Total traded volumes stood at 39,326 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.   

Technicals showed palm oil could rise to 2,588 ringgit per tonne as it has broken above resistance at 2,447 ringgit, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.  

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov. 1 to 15 fell 0.1 percent to 769,087 tonnes from 769,534 tonnes a month ago, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Friday.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a drop of 1.2 percent in exports for the same period.

Both cargo surveyors will release Nov. 1-20 export data on Tuesday.

U.S. soybeans rose 1 percent on Monday, buoyed by expectations of renewed buying after prices slid to their lowest in five months in the previous session as the world's top buyer China cancelled purchases.

The gains in soybeans supported U.S. soyoil for December delivery, which climbed 1.2 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.6 percent higher.   

In related markets, Brent crude rose towards $110 a barrel on Monday as escalating violence in the Middle East fuelled concerns over oil supplies from the region and as hopes rose that a U.S. budget crisis could be averted.  

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1010 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2386   +26.00    2380    2403     873
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2430   +34.00    2421    2448    9573
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2459   +30.00    2451    2479   17630
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6772   +58.00    6710    6782  441270
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8450   +46.00    8396    8470  743280
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC2   47.62    +0.57   46.84   47.66    5916
  NYMEX CRUDE      JAN3   87.87    +0.95   87.11   87.99   18012

  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=3.06 ringgit)