Malaysia's palm oil stocks hit 22-month low
Malaysia’s palm oil stocks fell for a fifth consecutive month in February 2025, to a 22-month low due to lower production and outpacing the decline in exports, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Monday.
A palm forest. Photo courtesy of The Business Times.
The palm oil stocks in February dropped by 4.31% to 1.51 million metric tons, the lowest since April 2023. Crude palm oil production in the month was down 4.16% to 1.19 million tons, the lowest in three years, after floods disrupted production. Palm oil exports fell 16.27% to hit a 4-year low of 1 million tons, it said.
Traders said a drop in stocks in the world’s second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia could support benchmark futures, even as the tropical oil’s premium over soy oil dampens demand from price-sensitive importing nations.
Stagnating production and a biodiesel push in top producer Indonesia could buoy prices of cooking oil for years, factors that make traditionally cheap palm oil costlier and eliminate an advantage that also curbed prices of rival oils.
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