Mistry: Palm oil in for another retreat in prices

KUALA LUMPUR: Dorab Mistry compared the palm-oil market in 1998 to the Titanic and correctly predicted a slump from then-record prices the next year. He's now forecasting another retreat as weakening demand outweighs a decline in Malaysian production.

Malaysia, the second-largest grower after Indonesia, will reap less than 18.6 million metric tonnes, at least 2.1% below the government's 19 million-tonne forecast, according to Mistry, the director of Godrej International Ltd who has traded vegetable oils for more than three decades. Futures may decline 7.9% to RM2,700 (US$852) a tonne by the end of the year, the lowest since October 2010, unless the United States did more to stimulate growth and boost demand, he said.