02/11/2013 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures briefly rose to a fresh one-year high on Friday, as strong Asian demand coupled with lower production expectations supported prices.

Both Malaysia and Indonesia, which account for the lion's share of global palm oil production, are entering their monsoon weather season, traders and analysts say, with output also likely to be dented by a lower production cycle as yields have eased from last year.

By midday, the benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange traded 0.2 percent higher at 2,599 ringgit ($820) per tonne.

Earlier, benchmark prices rose to 2,603 ringgit, its highest level since Oct. 25, 2012, and have gained about 7 percent for the year to date.

"The market is holding very well," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. "We are not going to have high production, due to wet weather conditions.

"The market still looks friendly so there is room to go higher," he said, adding that both Chinese and Indian demand remained strong. "If the market comes down, it will likely be due to profit taking."

Total traded volume stood at 16,574 lots of 25 tonnes each, above the usual 12,500 lots.

Technicals showed Malaysian palm oil's bullish target of 2,630 ringgit per tonne remains unchanged, based on its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

"Demand should remain fairly stable in view of the upcoming festive events like Chinese New Year and rising biodiesel mandates in Indonesia," CIMB Analyst Ivy Ng said in a note.

"The improvement in CPO (crude palm oil) price could be sustained into early-2014."

In other markets, Brent futures rose above $109 a barrel on expectations of steady demand growth as the manufacturing sector in China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, expanded at its fastest pace in 18 months.

In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December rose 0.4 percent in early Asian trade. The most-active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained slightly.

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0519 GMT                                                                         
  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume                                                     
  MY PALM OIL      NOV3    2611   -12.00    2611    2615      20                                                     
  MY PALM OIL      DEC3    2603    +3.00    2585    2610    1062                                                     
  MY PALM OIL      JAN4    2599    +6.00    2576    2603    9968                                                     
  CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY4    6306    +6.00    6290    6336  455592                                                     
  CHINA SOYOIL     MAY4    7226   +14.00    7200    7260  625224                                                     
  CBOT SOY OIL     DEC3   41.50    +0.17   41.35   41.62    2022                                                     
  NYMEX CRUDE      DEC3   96.49    +0.11   96.23   96.58    3469                                                     

  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 = 3.1555 Malaysian ringgit)