* Prices touch 2,230 rgt, highest since Apr 7

* Malaysian ringgit down 0.5 pct to 3.6150 per U.S. dollar

* Palm oil to rise to 2,235 ringgit -technicals

and robust demand in early May.

"Exports were fantastic in the first 10 days, and today the ringgit is also weakening," said one trader with a foreign

commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.

"Technically, the market also looks friendly. Prices broke above 2,200 ringgit and is holding above that. The next

resistance will be at 2,250-2,270 ringgit," the trader added.

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange hit 2,230 ringgit ($616.87) a tonne

on Tuesday, their highest since April 7, before settling at 2,224 ringgit by the day's close, up 1.3 percent.

Total traded volume stood at 47,004 lots of 25 tonnes each, above the average 35,000 lots.

Data from cargo surveyors on Monday show palm oil shipments from the world's second-largest producer Malaysia surged

between 41-45 percent in the first ten days of May compared to the same period in April, as buyers snapped up duty-free

cargoes of the crude grade.

The ringgit lost another 0.5 percent on Tuesday to trade at 3.6150 per U.S. dollar by 1045 GMT.

But signs of seasonally higher output and rising stockpiles in a report released by industry regulator the Malaysian

Palm Oil Board, however could dampen buying interest, traders said.

By end-April, palm inventories had climbed to a five-month high of 2.19 million tonnes.

In top producer Indonesia, crude palm oil output likely rose 11 percent to 2.66 million tonnes in April, its highest

since September, as trees entered a stronger period in the production cycle, a Reuters survey of leading industry

officials showed.

While export demand has shown signs of a strong recovery in May, some traders were sceptical it could be sustained,

especially as speedy planting of oilseeds promise ample supplies of rival edible oils.

U.S. planting of soy sped ahead in major crop states in the week to Sunday as weather remained favourable for

fieldwork, according to state crop reports that showed nationwide soybean seedings were 31 percent complete compared with

a five-year average of 20 percent for early May.

The U.S. July soyoil contract rose 0.5 percent in late Asian trade. The most active September soybean oil

contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained 0.2 percent.

Brent crude futures rose above $66 a barrel on Tuesday as a weaker dollar and the Yemen conflict helped lift prices.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1051 GMT

Contract Month Last Change Low High Volume

MY PALM OIL MAY5 0 +0.00 0 2201 0

MY PALM OIL JUN5 2227 +26.00 2200 2231 2562

MY PALM OIL JUL5 2224 +29.00 2195 2230 24106

CHINA PALM OLEIN SEP5 5092 +24.00 5064 5130 876902

CHINA SOYOIL SEP5 5890 +10.00 5868 5946 970910

CBOT SOY OIL JUL5 33.42 +3.20 33.03 33.45 9028

INDIA PALM OIL MAY5 454.70 +3.20 450.00 456.80 1882

INDIA SOYOIL JUN5 604.90 -0.40 601.30 606.80 43540

NYMEX CRUDE JUN5 60.35 +1.10 59.12 60.55 39815

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 = 3.6150 Malaysian ringgit)

($1 = 6.2092 Chinese yuan)

($1 = 64.17 Indian rupees)