KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s palm oil stockpiles stood at a four-year high at the end of October despite more-than-expected exports, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) showed on Friday.
Inventories rose 5.84% from September to 2.45 million metric tons, the sixth consecutive month of increases at the world’s second-largest palm oil producer.
The last time inventories jumped to this level was in September 2019.
Crude palm oil production climbed 5.89% to 1.94 million tons in October, while palm oil exports increased to 1.47 million tons, the data showed.
A Reuters survey had forecast inventories at 2.56 million, or growth of 10.82% on the month, and saw production at 1.88 million tons and exports at 1.29 million tons.
Stockpiles are expected to peak with end-October inventories, as production could decline in November due to seasonal rains hampering harvests, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said.
Palm oil declines on subdued China data, MPOB report awaited
“From November, end stocks may start to decline, and this could hold crude palm oil prices from dropping below 3,500 ringgit levels,” the trader said.
Palm oil demand is showing a notable improvement of between 100,000 to 170,000 tons compared to prior forecasts, Marcello Cultrera of Singapore-based Apricus said.
“This demand is supported by periodic improvements in crude palm oil import parities and destinations import margins, inline with increased domestic consumption.”
Comments
Comments are closed.