KL palm oil output up 7%

KL palm oil output up 7%

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) output rose seven percent month-on-month in May while palm oil exports increased by nine percent, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said Wednesday.

CPO output increased 60,330 tons to 924,797 while palm oil exports were up 76.098 tons to 939,971, it said in a statement.

But palm oil stocks dropped 12.2 percent to 929,472 tons, against 1.1 million tons in April. Of this total, CPO stocks dropped 6.8 percent to 506,780 tons.

Output of crude palm kernel oil remained constant at 108,849 tons in May compared to 108,852 tons the previous month.

But palm kernel oil exports dropped 12.2 percent to 52,542 tons while stocks declined 8.6 percent to 216,687 tons.

Dealers said CPO prices had surged in May on strong buying interest from India, China and Pakistan.

The strengthening Indonesian rupiah, which made Malaysian palm oil increasingly cheaper and more sought after, also boosted CPO prices, they added. -- AFP