* Palm hits intraday and five month high of 2,725 rgt/T

* Tight supplies, stronger soy lifted the market - trader

* Palm seen rising to 2,761 rgt/T - technicals

(Updates latest prices)

21/09/2016 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures surged to their highest in five months on Tuesday, recording a third straight session of gains, in response to tight supplies and strength in rival oils.

Benchmark palm oil futures for December on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange surged 1.9 percent to 2,693 ringgit ($651) a tonne at the end of the trading day.

It earlier touched an intra-day high of 2,725 ringgit, its highest since April 22.

Traded volumes stood at 57,726 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the 2015 average of 44,600.

The market is up on tight supplies, said a trader in East Malaysia, adding that rising soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade and China's Dalian Commodity Exchange also lifted palm.

Palm oil output from Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer, is still showing lagging effects of last year's dry weather El Nino, resulting in lower than average crop yields.

Malaysian production in August rose 7.3 percent, but registered its lowest August levels since 2012. (MYPOMP-CPOTT) "Exports were also not too bad," the East Malaysian trader added, referring to export data from cargo surveyors which fell less than expected.

Palm oil shipments from Malaysia fell 11-12 percent during the Sept. 1-20 period versus the same duration last month.

Traders were expecting a sharper dip after record exports in August of 1.8 million tonnes, according to data from industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. (MYPOME-PO)

A narrowing spread between palm and rival oilseed soy has shifted some demand to soy, dampening palm shipments in recent weeks. Consumers tend to prefer soyoil for cooking to palm and both compete for a share of the global edible oils market.

Chicago soybeans rose for a fourth straight session as excessive rains in parts of the U.S. delayed harvesting and raised concerns about crop quality.


The Chicago Board of Trade's soybean oil December contract rose 1.6 percent, while the January soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also gained 3.1 percent.

Palm oil is expected to rise to 2,761 ringgit per tonne, as it has cleared a resistance at 2,651 ringgit, according to Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals Wang Tao.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1039 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL OCT6 2883 +56.00 2870 2911 694

MY PALM OIL NOV6 2743 +55.00 2720 2781 14882

MY PALM OIL DEC6 2690 +51.00 2677 2725 23768

CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN7 5676 +218.00 5528 5676 959748

CHINA SOYOIL JAN7 6380 +192.00 6224 6394 1062300

CBOT SOY OIL DEC6 33.6 +0.52 32.97 33.83 13145

INDIA PALM OIL SEP6 585.00 +4.30 583.50 591 1738

INDIA SOYOIL SEP6 652.15 +1.90 651.3 655 610

NYMEX CRUDE OCT6 43.01 -0.29 42.89 43.26 1571

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
India soy oil in Indian rupee per 10 kg
Crude in U.S. dollars per barrel

($1 = 4.1370 ringgit)
($1 = 67.0325 Indian rupees)
($1 = 6.6699 Chinese yuan)