KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): Malaysia’s palm oil stockpile in April likely inched lower despite production rising to a six-month high, hampered by robust exports and plummeting imports, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday.
Inventories were seen declining 0.27% from the month before to 1.44 million tonnes, according to the median estimate of seven planters, traders and analysts polled by Reuters.
Output in the world’s second-largest producer likely jumped 8.9% from March to 1.55 million tonnes, marking a second straight month of gain and hitting its highest since October.
“The Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB) April data should be interesting as supply rebounds with East Malaysia now moving into a stronger production trend,” said Marcello Cultrera, institutional sales manager and broker at Phillip Futures in Kuala Lumpur.
Exports likely rose 10% to 1.3 million tonnes, while imports were seen down 21.4% to 108,000 tonnes.
“Demand in May is likely to be impacted by lower consumption of edible oils in India, as well as by negative palm oil processing margins,” Cultrera said.
Coronavirus infections in India, the world’s biggest palm oil importer, surged past 20 million on Tuesday, raising demand concerns.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release the official data on May 10.
Source : The Edge Markets
