OREANDA-NEWS. February 13, 2015. Malaysian palm oil futures edged up on Thursday, snapping three days of decline, as weakness in the ringgit and the announcement that Malaysia will resume taxing palm exports encouraged buying.

However, gains were limited as traders awaited more information on the reinstatement of the tax.

Malaysia will resume taxing exports of crude palm oil in March, a minister said, after scrapping the duty for five months to spur demand and reduce bloated stockpiles.

"The export price is raised, it's good news for the market," said one trader with a foreign brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.

"But the ringgit is weaker, and then we hear the tax news, the market should be encouraged to rally. Maybe one of the reasons it's a bit lethargic is that people are holding back to wait for any further information from Putrajaya," the trader added, referring to the city where a reinstatment of the tax regime was announced at a Malaysian palm industry conference.

The benchmark April contract had edged up 0.7 percent to 2,294 ringgit (\\$636) per tonne by Thursday's close.

Total traded volume stood at 49,165 lots of 25 tonnes, higher than the usual 35,000 lots.

The Malaysian ringgit weakened by 0.25 percent on Thursday, its fourth day of losses, and has dropped 15 percent since September. A weaker ringgit can makes palm oil effectively cheaper for international buyers.

Technicals showed palm may drop further to 2,247 ringgit per tonne, as it has broken support at 2,289 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

In other markets, Brent oil futures rose to \\$56 a barrel on Thursday, as a weaker dollar and industry spending cuts offset worries of a supply glut after US crude inventories increased for a fifth consecutive week.

The US soyoil contract for March rose 0.06 percent, while the most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.26 percent.