Malaysia: Yield swings may shift palm oil output by 5pc

CIMB Securities estimates that every one-tonne-per-hectare change in fresh fruit bunches (FFB) yield could shift Malaysia’s crude palm oil (CPO) output by about 996,585 tonnes, or roughly five per cent, based on the 2024 oil extraction rate of 19.67 per cent. Malaysia’s average FFB yield stood at 16.7 tonnes per hectare in 2024, translating into a CPO yield of 3.28 tonnes per hectare, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). FFB yields fell to 15.47 tonnes per hectare (CPO yield of 3.1 tonnes per hectare) in 2021, the lowest since MPOB began publishing statistics, mainly due to acute labour shortages. At its peak in 1986, Malaysia recorded 22.15 tonnes per hectare (CPO yield of 4.41 tonnes per hectare). CIMB Securities said the MPOB attributed the structural decline in yields to labour shortages, reduced fertiliser use, ageing estates, weak management practices and adverse weather, partly linked to climate change. Diseases, such as Ganoderma, are also present, ...