KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures jumped 3.6 percent on Friday as crude oil prices went through the key $100-a-barrel level, traders said.

Vegetable oil is now trading at roughly half its record levels, battered by bumper harvests, defaults by Asian consumers and financial market turmoil.

The benchmark December contract <KPOc3> rose as much as 78 ringgit to 2,263 ringgit ($654) before settling at 2,259 ringgit.

Palm oil hit a 17-1/2 month low at 2,200 ringgit on Thursday before surging 7.1 percent as cash and futures trade picked up on the strength of energy markets.

"The market appears to have priced in all the defaults, financial turmoil and high production," said a trader with a local brokerage. "Now there is talk that production for September will be down 15 percent because of biological tree stress."

Other traded months rose between 52 and 85 ringgit <0#KPO:>. Overall trade rose to 12,414 lots of 25 tonnes each from 10,000 lots.

Malaysian palm exports have started to slow, with cargo surveyors reporting declines of up to 8.5 percent during the Sept. 1-15 period, while September inventories, which opened at a lower-than-expected 1.8 million tonnes, are expected to balloon.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services will unveil Sept. 1-20 estimates over the weekend while Societe General de Surveillance will report on Monday.

Importers from China, the world's largest vegetable oil buyer, have defaulted on palm oil shipments, heightening fears of a massive stock congestion in Asian producing countries. [ID:nSP336061]

News of the China defaults comes on the heels of Indian palm oil buyers trying to defer some shipments on Wednesday after a heavy sell-off in vegetable oil markets, while traders said Pakistan had yet to cover its needs for the fourth quarter. [ID:nKLR108186]

Oil rose on Friday on expectation a comprehensive U.S. government plan would help battered financial markets. [O/R]

INDONESIAN PALM UP

Indonesian crude palm oil prices rose on Friday, tracking gains in the Malaysian palm futures.

The state marketing centre in Jakarta sold crude palm oil at 5,494 rupiah ($0.586) a kg, up from 5,182 rupiah on Thursday.

Producers did not hold palm auctions in Medan, North Sumatra -- home to Belawan port, Indonesia's key port for palm oil exports.

"As it often happened before, producers did not sell palm oils on Friday as they have done enough the days before," the trader said.

In Jakarta, refineries offered refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein, which is used in cooking oil, at 6,200-6,250 rupiah a kg, up from 6,000 rupiah a kg on Thursday.

"The price is just following palm futures in Malaysia. The rebound in stock markets in the region also helped boost buyer confidence," said a trader in Jakarta.

In Malaysia's physical market, crude palm oil for September and October shipments in the southern region was 2,260/2,270 ringgit. Trades were done at between 2,230 and 2,270 ringgit.

Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1028 GMT Contract Last Net chg Settle Open High Low Volume PALM OIL OCT8 2249 +84.00 2249 2150 2249 2145 325

PALM OIL NOV8 2252 +78.00 2252 2080 2252 2080 2257 PALM OIL DEC8 2259 +74.00 2259 2171 2263 2138 8042 PALM OIL JAN9 2270 +78.00 2270 2169 2272 2149 1518 CBOT soyoil* 44.84 + 0.40 44.44 N/A 45.21 44.47 N/A NYMEX crude**100.56 + 2.63 97.88 N/A100.76 97.39 N/A Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne

* Soy oil in U.S. cents per pound ** Crude in USD per barrel ($1=3.4670 ringgit, 9,370 rupiah) (Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage and Aloysius Bhui; editing by Andy Bruce) (([email protected]; +603 2333 8035; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

* 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/ASIA1> and <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 -- <OILS/MY01> Malaysian palm oil exports -- <SGSPALM1> CBOT soyoil futures -- <0#BO:> CBOT soybean futures -- <0#S:> Indian solvent -- <SOLVENT01> Weekly Indian vegetable oils -- [OILS/IN]

Dalian Commodity Exchange -- <DC/MENU> Dalian soyoil futures -- <0#DBY:> Dalian refined palm oil futures -- <0#DCP:> Zhengzhou rapeseed oil -- <0#CRO:> Kuala Lumpur palm oil futures -- <0#KPO:> European edible oil prices/trades -- [OIL/E]

Keywords: MARKETS PALM/CLOSE