PALMOILMAGAZINE, KUALA LUMPUR – By the end of February 2024, palm oil stocks in Malaysia witnessed a drop of less than 2 million metric tons (mt), marking the first decline in seven months. According to the Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB), stocks fell by 5% compared to the previous month, with the latest inventory standing at 1.919 million mt. This decrease was largely attributed to a larger drop in supply compared to demand.
The decline in supplies was mainly due to the seasonal decrease in production during February, continuing a downward trend for the fourth consecutive month. Production in February 2024 saw a significant decrease of 10.18%, totaling about 1.259 million mt. This represented a substantial loss of 677,652 mt compared to the peak production in October 2023, which reached 1.937 million mt.
As Palmoilmagazine.com quoted from PalmOilAnalytic, in the same time, the monthly exports did get significant contraction, hit the biggest decreasing in the past three years. The exports decreased 24.75% to be 1.015 million mt because the main importer countries slowed down palm oil purchase when their stocks were abundant.
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Besides, the increasing palm oil price which was relatively more expensive than soyoil price, burdened the exporters. Since in the midst of January 2024, palm oil was sold in premium price to soyoil price, and this trend continued.
In Malaysia itself, palm oil consumption reached 377.572 mt, reflected the increasing consumption that reached 6.98%. In the contrary, palm oil imports also increased 10.38% to be 32.556 mt to the previous month.
In specific product category, crude palm kernel oil decreased 17.30% to be 8.689 mt since in the early of the month. Biodiesel did decrease significantly that reached 27.57% to be 29.378 mt. (T2)
