22/05/2012 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures edged up on Monday on improving exports, although gains were capped as investors remained wary over uncertainty surrounding the euro zone. 

Malaysian palm oil exports for May 1-20 rose from a month ago, reflecting slightly better demand for the edible oil, according to cargo surveyor data.

Futures hit a five-month low at 3,034 ringgit on Friday, ending a volatile trading week when the market suffered a 5.5 percent loss on concerns about contagion from the Greek political turmoil.

"Prices are poised to recover after the recent sell-off. It was oversold and a little divorced from fundamentals. Demand is creeping back and (supply) situation remains tight," said a rader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia. 

Benchmark August palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange inched up 0.1 percent to close at 3,098 ringgit ($998) per tonne. Prices touched 3,034 ringgit on Friday, a level last seen on Dec. 21 last year.

Traded volumes stood at 42,462 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots, on increased hedging activities.

On the technicals front, palm oil will consolidate in a range of 3,019-3,136 ringgit per tonne for one or more trading sessions, before dropping below it, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

On the demand side, exports inched up 2.1 percent to 862,337 tonnes for the first 20 days of the month, thanks mainly to slightly better shipments to India, said cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a slightly higher 3.1 percent rise in exports for the same period.

Temperatures are set to rise in the southern portion of the Midwest grain belt in the United States, which produces the country's bulk of corn and soybeans, raising expectations of tighter soybean supply.

Oil prices edged higher on Monday, nearing $108 per barrel as worries about Greece's possible exit from the euro dominated the agenda, despite the prospect of economic stimulus in China and concerns about Iran as talks with world leaders start this week.

In other vegetable oil markets, the most active U.S. soyoil contract for July and the most active Dalian soyoil September contract gained 0.7 percent, showing signs of recovery after the sell-off last week.   

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1004 GMT

  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUN2    3100    -4.00    3092    3139    3659
  MY PALM OIL      JUL2    3102    +4.00    3091    3136   10223
  MY PALM OIL      AUG2    3098    +2.00    3087    3133   21342
  CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP2    8076   +52.00    7996    8110  200188
  CHINA SOYOIL     SEP2    9288   +68.00    9216    9324  354994
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL2   50.70    +0.38   50.25   50.91    7118
  NYMEX CRUDE      JUN2   91.81    +0.33   90.84   92.20    8668

  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 = 3.13 ringgit)