Malaysia, Singapore grapple with dry spell

SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR —Singapore and Malaysia are grappling with some of the driest weather they have ever seen, forcing the tiny city-state to ramp up supplies of recycled water while its neighbor rations reserves amid disruptions to farming and fisheries.

Singapore, which experiences tropical downpours on most days, suffered its longest dry spell on record between Jan. 13 and Feb. 8 and has had little rain since.

Shares in Hyflux Ltd., which operates desalination and water recycling operations there, have risen 3.5 percent over the past month.

In peninsular Malaysia, 15 areas have not had rainfall in more than 20 days, with some of them dry for more than a month, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department.

The dry spell in the Southeast Asian neighbors is expected to run for another two weeks, forecasters say.

The Indonesian province of Riau has also been hit, with part of the region wreathed in smog, usually caused by farmers setting fires to illegally clear land. Poor visibility has disrupted flights to and from the airport in Pekanbaru.

While some dry weather is expected at this time of year, the abnormal lack of rain is raising concerns about the pace of climate change in the region.

Malaysia is the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil and planters say dry weather lasting more than two months can hurt yields six months to two years down the line, affecting output and fueling benchmark Kuala Lumpur prices.

Palm oil prices up

Concerns that dry weather will hurt production have helped push up palm oil prices about 8 percent in February, setting the market on track for its biggest monthly gain in four months.

The lack of rain is also believed to have caused extensive damage to the rice crop.

In Singapore, the dry weather is being blamed in part for the mass death of fish stocks at several offshore farms. Around 160 tons of fish have died in recent weeks because of a lack of oxygen in the water.