Malaysia palm oil stockpiles shrink to six-month low

Banks and plantations were among the top losers.

KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil inventories in Malaysia fell to the lowest in six months in January as El Nino-wrought dry weather exacerbated seasonally low production in the world’s second-largest grower.

Inventories fell 12% to 2.31 million tonnes last month, data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board showed yesterday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey published last week forecast stockpiles of 2.33 million tonnes. Crude palm oil production slid a steeper-than-expected 19% to 1.13 million tonnes, the lowest for January since 2011.