VEGOILS-Palm up on hopes of better demand but set for second straight weekly loss

(Updates with midday break prices, analyst comment) By Dewi Kurniawati JAKARTA, March 21 (Reuters) - Palm oil edged up on Friday on hopes of better demand from India and China, but prices were still headed for a second straight weekly loss due to weakness in Chicago soyoil futures and a persistently slower Malaysian palm oil export performance. The benchmark palm oil contract FCPOc3 for June delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 5 ringgit, or 0.11%, to 4,418 ringgit ($999.32) a metric ton by the midday break. The contract has lost 3.45% so far this week. "The futures were seen trading sideways today with prices opened lower, pressured by weakness in Chicago soyoil futures and a persistently slower Malaysian palm oil export performance," said Anilkumar Bagani, head of research at vegetable oil broker Sunvin Group. "However, prices seen rebounding on hopes of a rejuvenation in destination demand, mainly from China and India." The two countries are the world's top importers of palm oil. According to independent inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia on Thursday, exports of Malaysian palm oil products for March 1-20 fell 5%. According to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Servicesm it fell 14.2%. Dalian's most-active soyoil contract DBYcv1 fell 0.22%, while its palm oil contract DCPcv1 slipped 0.09%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) BOcv1 declined 0.7%. Palm oil tracks price movements of rival edible oils as it competes for a share of the global vegetable oils market. A leading grains exchange in Argentina, the world's largest exporter of soybean oil and meal, cut its forecast for the country's 2024/2025 soybean crop by 1 million tons on Thursday as the impact of a drought becomes clearer. Indonesia will raise its palm oil export levy to 4.5%-10% of the crude palm oil reference price from 3%-7.5% to finance a mandated increase in the amount of oil used in biodiesel, a plantation fund official said on Tuesday. Oil prices rose in early Asian trading on Friday, and were set for their second consecutive weekly gains, after fresh U.S. sanctions on Iran and a new OPEC+ plan for seven members to cut output raised bets on tightening supply. Stronger crude oil futures make palm a more attractive option for biodiesel feedstock. The ringgit MYR= , palm's currency of trade, strengthened slightly to 0.07% against the U.S. dollar, making the commodity more expensive for buyers holding foreign currencies. ($1 = 4.4210 ringgit) (Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Janane Venkatraman) ((Dewi.Kurniawati@thomsonreuters.com)) ((For a table on Malaysian physical palm oil prices, including refined oil, Reuters Terminal users can double click on or type OILS/MY01 . * To view freight rates from Peninsula Malaysia/Sumatra to China, India, Pakistan and Rotterdam, please key in OILS/ASIA2 and press enter, or double click between the brackets. * Reuters Terminal users can see cash and futures edible oil prices by double clicking on the codes in the brackets: To go to the next page in the same chain, hit F12. To go back, hit F11. Vegetable oils OILS/ASIA1 Malaysian palm oil exports SGSPALM1 CBOT soyoil futures 0#BO: CBOT soybean futures 0#S: Indian solvent SOLVENT01 Dalian Commodity Exchange DC/MENU Dalian soyoil futures 0#DBY: Dalian refined palm oil futures 0#DCP: Zhengzhou rapeseed oil 0#COI: European edible oil prices/trades OILS/E ))