KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil stockpiles in Malaysia surged to the highest in more than six years as exports dropped in November, according to a survey.
Inventories jumped 10% from a month earlier to 2.71 million tonnes, the median of 11 estimates in a poll of plantation executives, traders and analysts. That’s the highest level since April 2019 and an increase of 47% from a year ago.
Palm oil reserves have been expanding since March and high stockpiles could pressure prices of the tropical oil. Futures briefly dropped below RM4,000 a tonne in November as demand from top importer India eased with the end of the festival season.
Exports dropped about 15% to 1.43 million tonnes, after jumping almost 19% a month earlier. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board will publish its monthly data on Dec 10.
Crude palm oil production in Malaysia, the world’s second-largest grower, eased 2.9% to 1.98 million tonnes, after jumping 11% in October, according to the survey.
“Peak production months are over and we are entering into the lower production months, but demand has been rather lethargic,” said Paramalingam Supramaniam, a director at brokerage Pelindung Bestari.
Market participants are looking for confirmation on the size of Malaysian stockpiles, and anything above 2.6 million tonnes would be considered bearish, Paramalingam said.
