KUALA LUMPUR (June 12): Malaysian palm oil futures rose slightly at noon on Wednesday, supported by expectations of falling inventory levels based on data from an industry regulator.

The market was earlier weighed down by weaker overnight soyoil on the US Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and a fall in oil prices.

The benchmark palm oil contract for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was last up 0.1% at RM2,009 (US$482.64) per tonne at the midday break.

Signals are mixed for palm oil, as it is stuck in a narrow range of RM1,997-2,019 per tonne, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals.

"The market was reacting to expectations of positive report from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board," said a Kuala Lumpur based futures trader, referring to Malaysia's May palm oil data release from the government regulator.

Malaysia's palm oil stockpiles at the end of May dropped 10.3% from the previous month to 2.45 million tonnes, the MPOB reported during the market's midday break on Wednesday.

Production in May rose 1.3% month-on-month to 1.67 million tonnes. Exports climbed 3.5% from April to 1.71 million tonnes last month, according to the MPOB data.

In other related oils, the Chicago July soybean oil contract, which had fallen 0.6% on Tuesday, was last down 0.2% on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the September soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1% and the Dalian September palm oil contract eased 0.8%.

Palm oil prices are affected by movements in related edible oils, with which it competes for global market share.    

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 0554 GMT

Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne
CBOT soy oil in US 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 US dollars per barrel

(US$1 = RM4.1625)
(US$1 = 69.4330 Indian rupees)
(US$1 = 6.9163 Chinese yuan)