21/03/2021 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures extended losses on Tuesday as some traders took profits on concerns that the market was overbought, although losses were limited by still-robust demand as indicated by export trends.

Palm oil rallied to a 9-month high of 3,418 ringgit last Friday on an upbeat price outlook, and traders said the market was poised for a correction.

"Prices ended lower in unison with CBOT and technical-based selling. It looks like the much anticipated correction is taking place currently and once that is completed, prices will resume their uptrend," said a trader with a local brokerage in Malaysia.

Benchmark June palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.2 percent to close at 3,366 ringgit ($1,093) per tonne, paring gains this year to 6 percent from a year-high 7.2 percent.

Traded volumes on Tuesday stood at 28,255 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.

Palm oil faces a support at 3,343 ringgit per tonne and will rise to test resistance at 3,398 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance reported a 14 percent increase in Malaysian exports for the first 20 days of March, indicating that demand is still strong despite a slowdown compared to the first 15 days.

Market players are also paying close attention to a strike by Argentina's truckers to demand higher pay rates just as exporters were counting on them to haul freshly harvested soybeans to port.

Traders are looking out for planting forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture due at the end of the month to help gauge soybean output for the year.

Lower soybean output means less for crushing into soyoil, allowing the competing palm oil to meet the shortfall.

Brent crude fell towards $124 a barrel as signs of increased supply from Saudi Arabia and a return to pre-war exports from Libya eased pressure on the market, while a slowdown in Chinese demand and a stronger dollar also weighed.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for May delivery lost 1 percent in Asian trade while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange edged down 1.3 percent. 
    
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT
                                                                             
  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      APR2    3364    -6.00    3346    3370     398
  MY PALM OIL      MAY2    3371    +3.00    3346    3373    4437
  MY PALM OIL      JUN2    3366    -7.00    3346    3378   15623
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8542  -124.00    8536    8644  183290
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP2    9558  -126.00    9554    9676  493268
  CBOT SOY OIL     MAY2   54.77    -0.62   54.75   55.40   10230
  NYMEX CRUDE    APR2  107.22    -0.87  107.10  107.91    2117
                                                                             
  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=3.08 ringgit)