SINGAPORE: Malaysia’s April palm oil stocks likely fell to their lowest in nine months, with domestic consumption and lower exports outstripping a rise in output, a Reuters survey of five plantation companies showed.

Inventory levels may have dropped 6.1% to 2.04 million tonnes, which would be the fourth straight monthly decline and the lowest level since last July. It would also be the closest stocks have come to the two-million tonne mark, a key psychological milestone, after hitting a record 2.63 million tonnes in December.

Production in the world’s No. 2 producer likely increased 4.7% from a month ago to 1.39 million tonnes, but the recovery in output may not have been enough to offset exports and local consumption, poll respondents said. Exports of the tropical oil probably eased 9% to 1.4 million tonnes in April from 1.54 million tonnes in March, as demand from China slowed during the month. – Reuters