Palm oil stocks rise in September

Malaysian palm oil futures edged up at the close of trade on Friday, but remained largely caught in a range as demand remained tepid.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian palm oil stocks rose to an eight-month high at the end of September, increasing 1.4% month-on-month to 2.54mil tonnes, and placing further pressure on crude palm oil (CPO) prices.

While the higher-than-expected rise in stockpiles is negative for CPO prices, analysts say the impact will be offset by higher crude oil prices, which helps boost palm oil usage for biodiesel.