07/12/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged up 0.4 percent on Thursday as traders bet on demand rising in the face of tighter supplies of competing soyoil due to unfavourable weather in Argentina.

Wet weather in No.3 soybean supplier Argentina has delayed plantings, threatening yields and prompting buyers to increasingly turn to Malaysia, where stocks are likely to have risen to a record 2.58 million tonnes in November.

Stronger demand for palm oil could support benchmark Malaysian futures that have fallen for three straight quarters this year on rising stocks and concerns that the euro zone debt crisis could arrest global economic growth.

"High stocks hang over the palm oil market but there may be a bit of hope from the probable decline in South American soy crops," a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage said.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 10 ringgit at 2,294 ringgit ($750) per tonne. Total traded volumes rose to 45,693 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots. 

Malaysian crude palm oil shipments are expected to rise in the next few weeks, as planters scramble to exhaust an annual  tax-free export quota totalling 3.5 million tonnes that is set to expire at the end of December.

China, which has been snapping up U.S. soybean cargoes, is looking to import more palm oil before Beijing imposes stricter quality controls on the refined grades on Jan. 1.

Brent crude oil steadied below $109 per barrel on Thursday as worries about the global economy and oil demand balanced supply fears stemming from simmering Middle East tensions.

In palm oil's competing markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery edged up 0.7 percent. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange inched up 0.5 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      DEC2    2117   +12.00    2105    2130      36
  MY PALM OIL      JAN3    2216   +11.00    2196    2228    2553
  MY PALM OIL      FEB3    2294   +10.00    2280    2313   19416
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY3    6810    -2.00    6790    6886  544898
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY3    8738   +40.00    8726    8810  502082
  CBOT SOY OIL     JAN3   51.08    +0.08   50.88   51.32   12760
  NYMEX CRUDE      JAN3   88.11    +0.23   87.59   88.18   14540

  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=3.0413 Malaysian ringgit)