MARKET DEVELOPMENT
UPDATE 1-Malaysian End-Dec Palm Stocks Hit 5-month Low After Monsoon Disruption
UPDATE 1-Malaysian End-Dec Palm Stocks Hit 5-month Low After Monsoon Disruption
* December palm stocks at 2.01 mln T vs 2.28 mln T in Nov
* Output tumbles 22 pct m/m to 1.36 mln T, exports up 0.4 pct
* Malaysia's 2014 output at record 19.67 mln T, above f'cast 19.52 mln T
* Tight palm supplies to underpin palm prices-trader (Adds trader comment, palm prices)
13/01/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil inventories fell to their lowest in five months at the end of December after monsoon rain and flooding curbed production in the second-largest grower, official data showed on Monday.
The fall was slightly bigger than expected and could bolster benchmark palm prices, which have raced up nearly 25 percent from five-year lows hit in September to touch six-month highs of 2,383 ringgit last week.
Industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board reported that palm stocks fell 11.6 percent in December from a month before to 2.01 million tonnes, their lowest since July and just below market estimates of 2.02 million tonnes.
December crude palm oil production plunged 22 percent from November to 1.36 million tonnes, compared with estimates of a 23 percent decline in a Reuters poll of planters, traders and analysts. The drop was greater than the fall of as much as 15 percent expected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Total Malaysian output for 2014 rose to a record high of 19.67 million tonnes from 19.22 million tonnes in 2013, thanks to robust yields between July to September.
Overseas sales of palm and palm products came to 1.52 million tonnes in December, up 0.4 percent from November, the MPOB said.
"The stocks and output data is more or less supportive to the market, but the poor demand for this month may limit the gain," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported on Monday that shipments of Malaysian palm fell 12.7 percent from Jan. 1-10 compared with the same period last month.
Ahead of the MPOB report, the benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.2 percent to 2,352 ringgit ($662) per tonne.
Planters and traders say the monsoon flooding last month disrupted the harvesting, transporting and crushing of palm fruit as it forced estates and mills to shut.
The flooding, which local authorities say was the worst in five decades, killed dozens and forced nearly a quarter of a million people to leave their homes.
Further rain and flooding could dent output in January.
"There's some tightness for the nearby supply of oil," the Kuala Lumpur-based trader added. "As long as the tightness is there, the market will remain supportive." ($1 = 3.5525 ringgit)
* Output tumbles 22 pct m/m to 1.36 mln T, exports up 0.4 pct
* Malaysia's 2014 output at record 19.67 mln T, above f'cast 19.52 mln T
* Tight palm supplies to underpin palm prices-trader (Adds trader comment, palm prices)
13/01/2015 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil inventories fell to their lowest in five months at the end of December after monsoon rain and flooding curbed production in the second-largest grower, official data showed on Monday.
The fall was slightly bigger than expected and could bolster benchmark palm prices, which have raced up nearly 25 percent from five-year lows hit in September to touch six-month highs of 2,383 ringgit last week.
Industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board reported that palm stocks fell 11.6 percent in December from a month before to 2.01 million tonnes, their lowest since July and just below market estimates of 2.02 million tonnes.
December crude palm oil production plunged 22 percent from November to 1.36 million tonnes, compared with estimates of a 23 percent decline in a Reuters poll of planters, traders and analysts. The drop was greater than the fall of as much as 15 percent expected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Total Malaysian output for 2014 rose to a record high of 19.67 million tonnes from 19.22 million tonnes in 2013, thanks to robust yields between July to September.
Overseas sales of palm and palm products came to 1.52 million tonnes in December, up 0.4 percent from November, the MPOB said.
"The stocks and output data is more or less supportive to the market, but the poor demand for this month may limit the gain," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur.
Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported on Monday that shipments of Malaysian palm fell 12.7 percent from Jan. 1-10 compared with the same period last month.
Ahead of the MPOB report, the benchmark March contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.2 percent to 2,352 ringgit ($662) per tonne.
Planters and traders say the monsoon flooding last month disrupted the harvesting, transporting and crushing of palm fruit as it forced estates and mills to shut.
The flooding, which local authorities say was the worst in five decades, killed dozens and forced nearly a quarter of a million people to leave their homes.
Further rain and flooding could dent output in January.
"There's some tightness for the nearby supply of oil," the Kuala Lumpur-based trader added. "As long as the tightness is there, the market will remain supportive." ($1 = 3.5525 ringgit)