December palm oil stocks up 6.92 pct

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s total palm oil stocks in December 2018 rose to 6.92 per cent to a record high of 3.22 million tonnes from 3.01 million tonnes in November.

Crude palm oil (CPO) stocks increased 8.40 per cent to 1.94 million tonnes during the month from 1.79 million tonnes in the preceding month.

Stocks of processed palm oil went up by 4.73 per cent to 1.27 million tonnes from 1.22 million tonnes previously, said the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in its “Performance of the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry for the Month of December 2018” released here yesterday.

It said CPO production, however, fell 2.02 per cent to 1.81 million tonnes in December from 1.85 million tonnes in the previous month.

Palm kernel output was also down by 1.15 per cent to 446,528 tonnes in December versus November’s production of 451,724 tonnes.

The MPOB said palm oil exports improved 0.57 per cent to 1.383 million tonnes in December from 1.375 million tonnes in November, while exports of oleochemicals rose 2.75 per cent to 253,941 tonnes from 247,135 tonnes.

Biodiesel exports expanded 61.75 per cent to 71,314 tonnes against November’s 44,091 tonnes, and exports of palm kernel cake rose 21.36 per cent to 201,727 tonnes from 166,217 tonnes.

In December, palm kernel oil exports declined by 38.59 per cent to 61,218 tonnes from 99,684 tonnes in the preceding month. — Bernama