KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — Malaysia’s palm oil stocks at the end of August climbed to their highest in 33 months, as output rose with peak production season getting underway, palm oil board data showed on Monday.
Inventories rose 18.16 per cent from the previous month to 2.09 million tonnes, hitting the highest level since November 2019, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed.
Crude palm oil (CPO) production rose for a third straight month, expanding 9.67 per cent from July to 1.73 million tonnes.
Exports fell 1.94 per cent to 1.3 million tonnes, MPOB said.
Overseas shipments will remain robust above 1.3 million tonnes both in September and October as weakening palm prices will draw greater interest from India, said Paramalingam Supramaniam, director at Selangor-based brokerage Pelindung Bestari.
“Concerns remain over demand for Malaysian CPO as neighbour Indonesia revises taxes and raises exportable volumes to clear its inventories, which could potentially weigh on the benchmark CPO prices and render tough competition,” Joseph Tek, Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) chief executive said in a statement last week.
The MPOA had warned that weather uncertainties and a triple-dip La Nina weather phenomenon, the first of this century, will hit production in the months ahead.
La Nina is forecast to last through the end of this year, with heavy rainfall and floods expected to force plantations to their limits, Tek said.
Further hammered by a labour shortage, 2022 production in the world’s second-largest producer is forecast to decline for the third year, or at best remain unchanged from last year’s 18.8 million tonnes.
— Reuters
