VEGOILS-Palm oil rose on better exports, tight supplies

* Palm up 0.9 pct at Monday close of trade

* Weaker ringgit, firm Dalian also lift palm market - trader

(Updates latest prices)

By Emily Chow

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures

rose on Monday, helped by improving export demand and strong

commodity prices due to tight supplies, traders said.

Benchmark palm oil futures for April delivery on

the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.9 percent to

3,110 ringgit ($696.68) a tonne at the end of the trading

session.

Traded volumes stood at 45,059 lots of 25 tonnes each.

Palm was down in the morning, but recovered on good export

figures, a weaker ringgit and strong prices for rival

oils on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, said a Kuala Lumpur

based trader.

"Physical prices of crude palm oil are still firm, so that

contributed to the adjustment up," he said.

Prices of crude palm oil have gained since the fourth

quarter of last year on tight market supplies, as output was hit

by El Nino, which damaged crops and lowered yields of palm's

fresh fruit.

Stronger Malaysian exports for the first half of January,

pointing to good demand, also supported palm. Shipments rose 6.7

percent in the Jan. 1-15 period from the first two weeks in

December, data from cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services

showed on Monday morning.

Data from another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de

Surveillance, showed that shipments rose 12 percent during the

same time period.

The ringgit, palm's currency of trade, slipped 0.1 percent

against the dollar to 4.4640. A weaker ringgit usually makes

palm oil more affordable for holders of foreign currencies.

Palm oil prices are also impacted by the movement of related

vegetable oils, as they compete for a share in the global edible

oils market.

The May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity

Exchange rose 0.7 percent, and the May contract for

Dalian palm olein was up 0.5 percent.

U.S. markets are closed for a public holiday on Monday.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1048 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL FEB7 3208 +26.00 3185 3208 880

MY PALM OIL MAR7 3145 +25.00 3108 3145 16503

MY PALM OIL APR7 3111 +28.00 3062 3111 20216

CHINA PALM OLEIN MAY7 6320 +32.00 6238 6368 652668

CHINA SOYOIL MAY7 7000 +50.00 6908 7020 370910

CBOT SOY OIL MAR7 35.6 +0.00 0 0 0

INDIA PALM OIL JAN7 590.60 +1.70 589.10 591.3 336

INDIA SOYOIL JAN7 731 +0.50 730 732.9 4970

NYMEX CRUDE FEB7 52.46 +0.09 52.15 52.72 49452

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 = 4.4640 ringgit)

($1 = 68.1150 Indian rupees)

($1 = 6.8986 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Sonali Paul and Louise

Heavens)