08/04/2010 (Bernama), Puchong - Palm oil prices can possibly touch RM2,800 or RM3,000 per tonne this year due to strong demand and the El-Nino weather phenomenon, IOI Corporation Bhd Executive Chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng says.

He said prices had been falling in the last month because of the strenghtening ringgit against the US dollar.

"Palm oil has proven to be one of the best vegetable oils," he told reporters on the sidelines of the official opening of Hong Leong Bank Bandar Puteri Puchong branch.

He expected a drop in IOI Corporation's oil palm output this year because of the effects of El-Nino. "We see a drop of eight per cent compared to last year," he said.

IOI Corporation's oil palm output for last year, he said, came close to four million tonnes in fresh fruit bunches and a million tonne in crude palm oil.