* Prices up 1.7 percent, in sight of first weekly gain in June
* Ringgit falls to 3.7615 per dollar
* For technical analyses, click

26/06/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose in light trade on Friday and were heading for their first
weekly gain in three weeks as the ringgit continued to retreat, but caution over Indonesia's new palm export levies kept prices in a tight trade.

The September palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange was up 0.5 percent at 2,276 ringgit ($605) a tonne at the midday break after trading in a narrow range between 2,273 and 2,280 ringgit.

Weakness in the ringgit, which benchmark palm is priced in, has helped lift the tropical oil 1.7 percent this week.

The currency was down 0.1 percent at 3.7615 per dollar by 0432 GMT, stretching its losing streak into a fourth session.

"Investors are still looking at the ringgit factor, as well as how the U.S. soybean planting is progressing - it's an important period now," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

"People are waiting ... That's why the market is heading nowhere. It's trying to play around 2,250-2,300 ringgit," the trader added.

Soybean planting is behind in several key areas in the United States' main grain belt. A drop in the volume of soybeans available for crushing into soyoil could channel demand into palm oil, a common food and fuel substitute.

Total traded volume on Friday morning was thin at only 3,768 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 12,500 lots.

Indonesia, the world's biggest palm producer, released a report on Thursday detailing levy rates for a range of palm products, including biodiesel, expected to take effect from July 1.

A levy of between $10 and $50 per tonne will be collected if palm prices fall below an export tax threshold of $750, government officials have said, but will not be payable if prices rise above $750, when export taxes of 7.5 to 22.5 percent kick in. Further details are expected next month.

"We are of the view that the lower levy for refined palm products and biodiesel ($20-30 per tonne) against the CPO export levy of $50 per tonne will improve the processing margins for downstream processors," said Ivy Ng, regional head of plantations research at CIMB Investment Bank.

But palm oil producers may be hurt in the short term as Indonesian CPO prices may fall to reflect the levy, Ng said.

In other vegetable oil markets, the U.S. July soyoil contract was up 0.2 percent in early Asian trade, while
the most active January soybean oil contract on the
Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.3 percent.    
   
  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0436 GMT
                                                                                                                                    
  Contract        Month    Last   Change     Low    High  Volume
  MY PALM OIL      JUL5    2275   +16.00    2269    2275      25
  MY PALM OIL      AUG5    2273    +9.00    2272    2277     474
  MY PALM OIL      SEP5    2276   +12.00    2273    2280    2541
  CHINA PALM OLEIN JAN6    5180    +4.00    5156    5204  591192
  CHINA SOYOIL     JAN6    5888   -16.00    5866    5918  457240
  CBOT SOY OIL     JUL5   33.44    +0.20   33.34   33.48     745
  INDIA PALM OIL   JUN5  454.50    +0.20  453.70  454.50       3
  INDIA SOYOIL     AUG5  588.70    +0.75  588.10  589.50    1250
  NYMEX CRUDE      AUG5   59.69    -0.01   59.58   59.71    5420
                                                                                                                                    
  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 = 3.7615 ringgit)
($1 = 6.2094 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 63.64 Indian rupees)