Palm Oil Stockpiles in Malaysia Increase to Eight-Month High

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Palm oil stockpiles in Malaysia, the world’s second-largest producer, rose 12 percent in September from August to the highest in eight months.

Inventory of the edible oil, used mostly in cooking, gained to 1.58 million metric tons, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board said in a statement today. That’s the highest since January when stockpiles reached 1.83 million tons.

Rising supplies may help to curb a 26 percent gain in palm oil futures this year. The December-delivery contract on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange advanced 2.1 percent to 2,129 ringgit ($625) a ton at the 12:30 p.m. trading break before the data was released.

Output climbed 4.1 percent to 1.56 million tons, the second highest on record, the board said. Monthly production reached an all-time high of 1.66 million tons in November 2008.

Exports dropped 0.4 percent to 1.31 million tons, the data showed, the second straight month-on-month decline.

Indonesia and Malaysia account for almost 90 percent of the world’s palm oil output. Indonesia doesn’t release monthly data.