Oil Palm Yields Likely To Normalise In 2018, Says Industry Expert

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- The oil palm industry needs to wait until 2018 to see yields normalising after being badly impacted by prolonged drought due to the El Nino phenomenon. Leading industry analyst Thomas Mielke said this year, the oil palm yield in Malaysia is set to drop 10 per cent to 17.8 million tonnes and four per cent in Indonesia to 32.2 million tonnes. "Oil palm yields are expected to recover in Malaysia and Indonesia next year, but not much. Most probably, we will see yields normalising in 2018," he said at the Malaysian Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar here Thursday. Mielke also ISTA Mielke GmbH's Executive Director. Saying that palm oil is undervalued, he forecast that prices are likely to resume a rally soon and temporarily reach US$687 (RM2,900) and US$711 (RM3,000) per tonne. (US$1 = RM4.21) He attributed the rise in prices to low palm stocks and export supplies and a slower than expected recovery in production. Wednesday, the spot month CPO price was up US$4 (RM20) to close at US$632 (RM2,670) a tonne, while the benchmark December 2016 rose US$9 (RM42) to US$628 (RM2,653) a tonne. -- BERNAMA