KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil stockpiles in Malaysia at the end of October registered a marginal rise as exports dipped from a month ago and as imports increased.
Rising inventories could dampen benchmark palm oil prices , which rose to the highest in over two-and-a-half years on Tuesday. Palm future were down 1 percent at 2,816 ringgit ($663) per tonne at the midday break on Thursday.
Stockpiles in Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, rose 1.8 percent from September to October to 1.57 million tonnes, according to data from industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) on Thursday.
Inventories gained as exports last month dropped 1.4 percent from September to 1.43 million tonnes, the MPOB said. That is the lowest since July.
The supply also built as imports jumped to 26,857 tonnes in October from only 1,792 in September. MPOB data showed October’s production falling to 1.68 million tonnes, down 2.2 percent from the previous month and its lowest October levels since 2010.
A Reuters poll of eight traders, analysts and planters had forecast October inventories to gain 8.8 percent to 1.68 million tonnes, while output was seen marginally rising by 1.1 percent to 1.73 million tonnes. Exports were forecast to drop 5.4 percent to 1.37 million tonnes.
