Palm oil stocks down nearly 9% in May

Palm oil futures for August delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 1.9 percent to 2,481 ringgit ($605) per tonne at the close of trade on Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR:  Malaysia's total palm oil stocks in May 2016 fell 8.78 per cent to 1.65 million tonnes versus 1.80 million tonnes registered in April 2016, said the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

Crude palm oil (CPO) stocks for May 2016 shed 9.20 per cent to 884.29 million tonnes from 973.85 million tonnes recorded in April and that of processed palm oil fell 8.28 per cent to 761.32 million tonnes in May, it said in a statement.

Total CPO production rose 4.86 per cent to 1.36 million tonnes in May 2016 versus an output of 1.30 million tonnes recorded in April.

MPOB also said exports of biodiesel rose sharply to 20,872 tonnes versus April's 116 tonnes.

Exports of palm oil was 9.33 per cent higher at 1.28 million tonnes in May against 1.17 million tonnes recorded in April.

Meanwhile, imports of CPO increased 73.02 per cent to 9,522 tonnes but  total palm oil imports fell 52.09 per cent to 20,024 tonnes during the month in review. - Bernama