KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Crude palm oil futures on Malaysia's derivatives exchange rebounded Wednesday, as heavy rains over major oil palm growing areas of Johor and Pahang are disrupting harvesting and limiting availability of the cooking oil for exports.

CPO continued a recovery from a drop to a five-week low on Monday, driven by traders covering short positions in the face of bad weather and supply fundamentals, trade participants said.

The benchmark February contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange ended 1.7% higher at MYR3,052 a metric ton after moving both ways.

"Oil palm fruits are not coming in because of the rain," a palm oil miller in the state of Pahang said. Palm fruits collected from estates are sent to mills, where they are crushed to obtain CPO, a key ingredient in a wide variety of consumer products.

Scattered thunderstorms and heavy rains are forecast in many parts of peninsular Malaysia, including Johor and Pahang Saturday through Monday, and may cause floods in low-lying areas, the Malaysian Meteorological Department said in a Dec. 14 weather advisory.

The weather bureau also said Terengganu, Selangor and Malacca states will receive intermittent rain for the rest of the day, which may also cause flash floods.

"Output in December will be bad. It may fall as much as 22% from November's level of 1.63 million tons," S. Paramalingam, executive director at Kuala Lumpur-based brokerage Pelindung Bestari Sdn. Bhd., said.

Separately, traders expect Dec. 1-15 outbound sales to reach 700,000-740,000 tons, a modest drop of 8%-12% from a month ago, which suggests exports for the whole of December may be unchanged or a tad higher, a vegoil exporter in Pasir Gudang said.

Cargo surveyors Intertek Agri Services and SGS (Malaysia) Bhd. are expected to issue Dec. 1-15 shipment data Thursday.

"We see limited downside to CPO price in 2012 and remain confident that prices will be firm, especially in the first quarter, when global production of vegoils should be seasonally low and stocks decline," Citibank analyst Penny Yaw said in a note.

Open interest on the BMD was 117,521 lots, versus 116,975 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 25 tons.

A total of 21,298 lots of CPO were traded versus 16,668 lots Tuesday.

Closing BMD CPO futures prices in MYR/ton at 1000 GMT: 
 
Month   Close  Previous  Change   High    Low 
Dec'11  3,030     2,990     +40  3,030  3,020 
Jan'12  3,048     3,001     +47  3,044  2,980 
Feb'12  3,052     3,002     +50  3,044  2,980 
Mar'12  3,053     3,007     +46  3,045  2,983