Malaysia:Â Palm Oil Yields High, Rainfall Variable
March 1, 2005Malaysia: Palm Oil Yields High, Rainfall VariableRainfall in Malaysian palm oil regions was above normal during the fourthquarter of 2004 (Oct.-Dec.). It averaged 335 millimeters per monthcompared to normal rainfall of 291 millimeters. For the past 10 quarters,5 quarters have had above normal rainfall and 5 quarters below normal;consequently, the outlook for the remainder of the 2004/05 (Oct.-Sept.)crop is for near normal yields. Yield should be slightly below normal inthe first quarter of 2005 (Jan.-Mar.) but above normal in the second andthird quarters.   Palm oil yields in Malaysia were higher than anticipated in the fourthquarter of 2004, coming in relatively high at 1.14 tons per hectare. Thisis higher than the 1.05 tons per hectare that yields averaged for thefourth quarter during the previous five years. The higher than expectedyield for the fourth quarter of 2004 pushes the projected yield for thetotal 2004/05 marketing year (Oct.-Sept.) to 4.00 tons per hectareaccording to the Malaysian Rainfall Regression Model (MRRM). Three monthsago, the MRRM model was projecting 2004/05 yield at 3.79 tons per hectare.
