Malaysia’s palm oil stocks hit 8-month high as consumption slows

Malaysia’s palm oil stocks rose more than expected in September to hit an eight-month high, as a sharp fall in local consumption outweighed a modest increase in exports and reduced production, the industry regulator said on Thursday. The rise in stocks in Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil after neighbouring Indonesia, could limit gains in benchmark futures FCPOc3, which are already hovering near their highest levels in six months. Malaysia’s palm oil stocks MYPOMS-TPO at the end of September rose 6.93% from the previous month to 2.01 million metric tons, the highest since January, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said. Crude palm oil production was down 3.80% in September from August to 1.82 million tons, while palm oil exports ticked up 0.93% to 1.54 million tons, it said. A Reuters survey had forecast inventories at 1.95 million tons, output at 1.87 million tons and exports at 1.5 million tons. PALM/POLL The market was surprised with the 37% reduction ...