Malaysia palm oil stocks in August above 2mil tonnes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's palm oil inventory rose above the two million tonnes level in August, which was the first time for 2014.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said on Wednesday the inventory rose 21.9% to 2.05 million tonnes from the 1.68 million tonnes in July.

Analysts said the August level was within expectations due to the high production of crude palm oil (CPO), which rose also 21.9% to 2.03 million tonnes from 1.67 million tonnes in July.

At midday, CPO for third month delivery fell RM20 to RM2,014 tonne.

Malaysian plantation stocks fell with PPB Group down 18 sen to RM14.62, Felda Global Ventures three sen to RM3.78 but Kuala Lumpur Kepong added six sen to RM22.04.

RHB Research said on Wednesday it had reduced its average CPO price assumption for 2014 to RM2,400 (from RM2,700) and for 2015 to RM2,500 per tonne (RM2,900).