(Update prices, add analyst comments)
JAKARTA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures
rebounded on Thursday, set for their biggest daily gain in more
than a week, as rival vegetable oils in Dalian and Chicago
strengthened and a weaker ringgit supported the market.
The benchmark palm oil contract for May delivery
rose 1.83% to 4,016 ringgit per tonne by midday, rebounding from
Wednesday's 0.5% drop.
"Prices moved up on the back of strong closing in Chicago
soybean oil last night as NOPA released lower crushing," a Kuala
Lumpur-based trader said.
The U.S. soybean crush in January were smaller than expected
despite rising for the first time in three months, while soyoil
stocks increased for a fourth straight month.
Palm is affected by price movements in related oils as they
compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.
Dalian's most-active soyoil contract gained 0.76%,
while its palm oil contract rose 1.04%. Soyoil prices on
the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.31%.
Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Feb. 1-15 rose
8.9% from a month earlier, independent inspection company AmSpec
Agri Malaysia said on Wednesday, while cargo surveyor Intertek
Testing Services reported an increase of 18.4%.
India's palm oil imports in January fell about 25% from the
previous month to 833,667 tonnes, a trade body said on
Wednesday.
Higher export tax and export levy for Indonesian palm oil
exports in Feb. 16-28 period would also benefiting Malaysian
palm oil exporters, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of
Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.
The biggest palm oil exporter Indonesia set its crude palm
oil reference price at $880.03 per tonne for Feb. 16-28, which
put CPO export tax at $74 per tonne and export levy at $95 per
tonne, higher than the imposed tax and levy in first half of
February.
Palm oil is biased to fall to 3,859 ringgit per tonne, as it
may be affected by the drop in the overnight COBT grain market,
said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao (Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy and Bernadette Christina Munthe;
Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Uttaresh.V)
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