El Nino weather threat has eased, forecaster says<\/p>\n
Bloomberg\/Melbourne<\/p>\n
El Nino weather conditions have eased in the past month, the
\nAustralian government's weather forecaster said, lowering the
\nrisk of a drought-induced slide in Southeast Asian palm oil
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
"The progress towards an El Nino event this year has slowed
\nover the past month, as a consistent pattern of Pacific wind and
\ncloud signatures has failed to materialize," the Commonwealth
\nBureau of Meteorology said in a report on its Web site.<\/p>\n
The bureau in Melbourne said a month ago that climate
\nindicators suggested an El Nino was close to emerging.<\/p>\n
The weather pattern occurs when sea surface temperatures in
\nthe equatorial Pacific Ocean remain above average for more than
\nseveral months.<\/p>\n
It can trigger atmospheric and weather changes around the
\nglobe.<\/p>\n
Palm oil prices in Malaysia, the world's top grower and
\nexporter of the commodity, used in food preparation, rose more
\nthan 8 percent during August amid concern an emerging El Nino
\nwould bring dry weather and reduce production.<\/p>\n
"El Nino is not likely to come and 2004 is likely to be a
\nnormal year" for rainfall, said Maruli Gultom, president of PT
\nAstra Agro Lestari, Indonesia's biggest publicly traded
\nagricultural company.<\/p>\n
"This month we expect an increase in production from our
\nSumatra plantations because there's been plenty of rain."<\/p>\n
Plantations in Kalimantan and Sulawesi may yield less oil than
\na month ago because of drier weather, he said.<\/p>\n
"Sea surface temperatures in the western to central Pacific
\nhave hovered near El Nino thresholds for about two months now,
\nbut subsurface temperatures are well below the levels normally
\nassociated with El Nino," the Australian weather bureau said.<\/p>\n
Palm oil for January delivery rose 27 ringgit, or 2 percent,
\nto 1,401 ringgit on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange at 12:29
\np.m. in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
Prices have fallen 18 percent in the past year because of
\nrecord U.S. production of soybeans, a rival source of vegetable
\noil.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/el-nino-weather-threat-has-eased-forecaster-says-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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