Malaysia palm oil stocks seen declining to the lowest in a year

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Malaysia's palm oil inventories likely shrank further in April to hit their lowest in a year as local consumption increased amid festive demand, a Reuters survey showed on Friday.

Palm oil stocks in the world's second-biggest producer were seen declining for a sixth consecutive month to 1.68 million metric tons, a 2% drop on a monthly basis, according to the median estimate of 10 traders, planters and analysts polled by Reuters.

Exports of palm oil products were estimated to have declined by 7.79% month-on-month to 1.22 million tons amid stiff price competition from other edible oils, especially sunflower oil.

"However, the recent price correction in palm oil resulted in the evaporation of its premium over soft oils and brought it at a discount, which could attract fresh buying from destination markets," said Anilkumar Bagani, commodity research head at Mumbai-based Sunvin Group.

Meanwhile, crude palm oil (CPO) output was seen rising for a second consecutive month in April to 1.46 million tons, a 5% increase month-on-month.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is scheduled to release its monthly palm oil data on May 10.

Breakdown of April estimates (in metric tons):

Range Median

Production 1,448,000 - 1,700,000 1,462,095

Exports 1,192,453 - 1,600,000 1,215,000

Imports 23,000 - 45,000 27,500

Closing stocks 1,600,000 - 1,755,117 1,680,345

* Official stocks of 1,714,973 tons in March plus the above estimated output and imports yield a total April supply of 3,204,568 tons. Based on the median of exports and closing stocks estimate, Malaysia's domestic consumption in April is estimated to be 309,223 tons.

(Reporting by Bernadette Christina; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

By Bernadette Christina