22/03/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rebounded slightly on Wednesday, as an upbeat demand outlook for the edible oil offset earlier losses on the back of lower crude oil that was weighed by Saudi Arabia's supply pledge.

Palm oil hit a 9-month high of 3,418 ringgit last week, and the rally appeared to be losing some steam after two straight days of losses this week.

But Malaysian export numbers helped snap the losing trend, and futures are trading 6.1 percent higher this year.

"Some market players are buying on export optimism, and the upcoming export figure may reflect stronger demand," said a dealer with a foreign brokerage in Malaysia.

Benchmark June palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.1 percent to close at 3,368 ringgit ($1,096) per tonne.

Traded volumes stood at 19,259 lots of 25 tonnes each, thinner than the usual 25,000 lots.

Palm oil will break support at 3,343 ringgit per tonne and then drop to 3,320 ringgit based on technical analysis, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Malaysian palm oil exports increased by 14 percent for the first 20 days of March from a month ago, indicating that demand is still healthy demand despite a slowdown compared to the near 40 percent jump in the first 15 days.   

Traders are also paying close attention to a strike by Argentina's truckers, which disrupted the flow of soybeans to the country's main ports for a second day after union leaders failed to reach a deal with the government.

Brent crude edged towards $125 a barrel on Wednesday, rebounding from sharp losses a day earlier, as lower-than-expected U.S. crude stocks and a weaker dollar offset the prospect of top exporter Saudi Arabia ramping up supply.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for May delivery gained 0.3 percent in Asian trade while the most active September 2012 soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity exchange lost 0.5 percent.

"Traders are looking forward to the U.S. Department of Agriculture planting forecasts due at the end of March. Other than that, the market is pretty steady right now," said Huang Zhi Qiang, an analyst with Guotai Junan Futures in Shanghai.  
      
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1026 GMT
                                                                                          
  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      APR2    3376   +12.00    3350    3376      47
  MY PALM OIL      MAY2    3374    +3.00    3342    3374    2177
  MY PALM OIL      JUN2    3368    +2.00    3343    3376   13156
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8532   -54.00    8500    8554  115306
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP2    9554   -50.00    9520    9572  356868
  CBOT SOY OIL     MAY2   54.46    +0.13   54.40   54.65    4147
  NYMEX CRUDE      MAY2  106.65    +0.58  106.32  106.86   13515
                                                                                          
  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=3.073 ringgit)