KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's palm oil stocks at the end of January rose 4.68% from previous month to 1.32 million tonnes, industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) data showed on Wednesday.

Crude palm oil production fell 15.5% from December to 1.13 million tonnes.

Palm oil exports plunged 42.3% to 947,395 tonnes, MPOB said.

A Reuters poll had pegged January inventories to rise 1.8% to 1.29 million tonnes, after three consecutive months of decline. Production was seen down 13% to a near five-year low, while exports were seen falling 35%.