21/03/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to the highest in more than a week on Wednesday on higher/ export demand, although gains were curbed after Cyprus's rejection of a proposed bailout plan led to worries of a default.

Cyprus's parliament voted against assessing a levy on bank deposits as a condition for a European bailout on Tuesday, throwing international efforts to save the latest casualty of the euro zone debt crisis into disarray.       

But palm prices were lifted by Malaysian palm oil exports that rose 11 percent for the March 1-20 period to 927,665 tonnes, up from 835,612 tonnes a month ago, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a 14 percent increase for the same period. 

"If exports continue at this rate, we will see a figure of around 1.4-1.5 million tonnes for the full month," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "Stocks will come down even more and this trend may continue into April."

The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 1.1 percent to 2,441 ringgit ($782) per tonne, below its intraday high at 2,448 ringgit, a level last seen a week ago on March 11.

Total traded volume stood at 48,190 lots of 25 tonnes each, almost twice the usual 25,000 lots.

Refined palm olein exports nearly doubled in the March 1-20 period, offsetting a decline in crude palm oil shipments and leading to higher overall exports, cargo surveyor data showed.

Market participants are counting on rising exports and seasonally slower production to pull down Malaysia's inventory levels. Stocks reached a record 2.63 million tonnes in December but have been gradually easing since then, dropping to 2.44 million tonnes by the end of February.

In other markets, Brent crude rose towards $108 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering from a three-month low, on hopes the United States would continue with its stimulus programme and that Europe would reach a last-minute deal to bail out Cyprus.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery gained 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange lost 0.1 percent.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1005 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      APR3    2429   +15.00    2411    2429     943
  MY PALM OIL      MAY3    2440   +24.00    2416    2443    7773
  MY PALM OIL      JUN3    2441   +26.00    2414    2448   18873
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP3    6344   +18.00    6276    6360  328446
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP3    8100    -6.00    8052    8118  498966
  CBOT SOY OIL     MAY3   49.65    +0.17   49.47   49.75    3813
  NYMEX CRUDE      APR3   92.69    +0.53   92.09   92.69    2300

  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=3.12 ringgit)