VEGOILS-Palm ends higher after surprise fall in exports; weak ringgit aids gain

(Recasts, updates prices, adds SGS export data, new trader quote)

* Malaysia April 1-20 palm oil exports fall 5.9-6.0 pct -cargo surveyors

* Malaysian ringgit down 0.25 pct against U.S. dollar on Monday

* Palm oil to rebound to 2,651 ringgit -technicals

By Anuradha Raghu

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher

on Monday after two days of losses, as investors pinned hopes for an increase in

demand ahead of a major Muslim festival despite a surprise drop in exports in

the first 20 days of the month.

A weaker Malaysian ringgit, which fell 0.25 percent to 3.2485

against U.S. dollar in late trade, also attracted buying interest from overseas

buyers and refiners, lending support to the palm market.

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives

Exchange closed 0.3 percent higher at 2,640 ringgit ($812) per tonne after

hitting a more than one-week low of 2,612 ringgit in the afternoon session.

"Exports are not impressive, but market players are looking forward to the

next 10 days," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

"The ringgit also weakened, that's why the market was higher," the Kuala

Lumpur-based trader added.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products between April 1-20 fell 5.9 percent

from a month ago to 722,170 tonnes, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services

reported, as weaker demand in Europe offset bigger sales of palm to top buyers

India and China.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, showed that

shipment volumes for the same period fell 6 percent.

Total traded volumes were thin at 25,288 lots of 25 tonnes, much below the

average 35,000 lots, with some currency and equity markets overseas still closed

for the Easter holiday weekend.

Technicals were bullish. Malaysian palm oil may rebound to resistance at

2,651 ringgit per tonne as it failed to break support at 2,621 ringgit, said

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Market players expect edible oil imports in India, Pakistan and the Middle

East to rise later in April as buyers restock ahead of the Muslim holy month of

Ramadan in late June, followed by Eid al-Fitr celebrations in July.

Traders are also optimistic that output in Malaysia, the world's No.2

producer, will likely rise only slightly in April after surging more than 17

percent a month ago. March's crude palm oil production had jumped to 1.50

million tonnes, against market estimates for 1.39 million tonnes.

"Fundamentals are very supportive because production in Peninsular Malaysia

estates is low for the first 15 days of April," said another Kuala Lumpur-based

trader. "Ramadan demand is keeping nearby availability tight."

In other markets, Brent futures dropped towards $109 a barrel as investors

took profits after steep gains, but uncertainty surrounding the crisis in

Ukraine checked the decline.

In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for May

slipped 0.7 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active September soybean

oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange lost 1 percent.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1027 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL MAY4 2696 +2.00 2675 2696 376

MY PALM OIL JUN4 2653 +5.00 2628 2659 5233

MY PALM OIL JUL4 2640 +6.00 2612 2645 14742

CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP4 6126 -60.00 6124 6246 393312

CHINA SOYOIL SEP4 6958 -72.00 6950 7072 475282

CBOT SOY OIL JUL4 43.30 -0.36 43.26 43.90 5716

NYMEX CRUDE MAY4 104.10 -0.20 103.93 104.63 6362

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 = 3.250 Malaysian ringgit)

($1 = 6.2274 Chinese yuan)

(Editing by Joseph Radford and Subhranshu Sahu)