Malaysia end-Sept palm oil stocks hits highest in nearly three years

Malaysia’s end-September palm oil inventories ballooned to the highest in nearly three years, as a pickup in production offset strong exports, data from the nation’s palm oil board showed on Tuesday (Oct 11).

Stockpiles rose 10.54% from August to 2.32 million tonnes, the highest since October 2019, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

That is higher than a Reuters‘ forecast of 2.27 million tonnes.

Crude palm oil output grew for a fourth consecutive month amid the peak harvest season, up 2.6% to 1.77 million tonnes.

Exports rose 9.25% to 1.42 million tonnes, the highest since September 2021, as key buyer India accelerated purchases ahead of the Diwali festival in late October.

Imports slumped 23%.

India’s pipelines are almost full for now and only sporadic buying is expected in the November to December period as the festival season would be over by then, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Mumbai-based vegetable oils broker Sunvin Group.

“However, palm oil’s discount over competing oils would still attract destination buying from China, European Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Middle eastern countries,” he said, adding that prices have to retain its wider discount against soy oil and sun oil.

Tags: Malaysia, palm oil