KUCHING: Sarawak’s monthly crude palm oil (CPO) production volume in November 2023 has dropped nearly 10 per cent or 42,760 tonnes to 400,237 tonnes from 442,997 tonnes in the previous month of October.
However, last month’s production volume was significantly higher as compared to 374,859 tonnes recorded in November 2022. In the first 11 months of 2023 (11M2023), Sarawak has produced 3,868,244 tonnes of CPO (11M2022: 3,648,060 tonnes).
Sabah again beat Sarawak as the No 1 CPO producing state in Malaysia, with output of 429,419 tonnes last month, which was a decrease from 458,707 tonnes in October. But last month’s production was higher than 427,340 tonnes registered in November 2022. In 11M2023, Sabah was much ahead of Sarawak with CPO production volume of 4,139,369 tonnes (11M2022: 3,869,347 tonnes), according to data released by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) yesterday.
In November 2023, Sarawak-Sabah combined CPO production totalled 829,656 tonnes, which was sharply lower than 901,704 tonnes recorded in October 2023.
In Peninsular Malaysia, the producing states generated a total of 959,214 tonnes of CPO last month against 1,035,520 tonnes in October 2023. The top producer in the peninsula last month was Johor, with output of 292,072 tonnes (October 2023: 306,030 tonnes), followed closely behind by Pahang, which recorded 291,296 tonnes (314,439 tonnes) and Perak with output of 155,100 tonnes (173,377 tonnes).
Nationwide, Malaysia registered much lower CPO production of about 1.79 million tonnes last month (1.94 million tonnes).
The MPOB data showed that Malaysia’s palm oil exports last month declined to 1,396,721 tonnes valued at RM5.69 billion (October 2023: 1,480,686 tonnes valued at RM5.95 billion). Last month’s palm oil exports comprised of about 1.07 million tonnes of processed palm oil (PPO) (RM4.45 billion) and 323,326 tonnes of CPO (RM1.25 billion).
On Malaysia’s monthly closing stock of palm oil, there was a slight decline to 2.42 million tonnes in November (2.45 million tonnes). For CPO, the inventory decreased to 1.34 million tonnes (October 2023: 1.39 million tonnes). Monthly stock in Peninsular Malaysia fell to 576,263 tonnes (591,151 tonnes) while the monthly inventory in Sabah dropped to 442,363 tonnes (484,826 tonnes). However, it was the reverse in Sarawak as the monthly stock climbed to 321,823 tonnes (318,694 tonnes).
For the monthly closing stock of processed palm oil, the country recorded an increase to about 1.08 million tonnes (1.05 million tonnes). In 11M2023, the average monthly closing stock of palm oil in Malaysia is higher at nearly two million tonnes (11M2022: 1.84 million tonnes).
On palm kernel, the MPOB data revealed that Malaysia’s total production in November 2023 shrank to 431,641 tonnes (October: 469,404 tonnes). In keeping with the national trend, Sarawak’s palm kernel output slipped to 88,796 tonnes (99,504 tonnes), Sabah decreased to 93,909 tonnes (102,190 tonnes) and Peninsular Malaysia fell to 248,936 tonnes (267,710 tonnes).
Month-on-month, the country’s monthly closing stock of palm kernel declined to 176,694 tonnes (187,041 tonnes).
Last month, Malaysia also produced smaller volume of palm kernel oil at 207,446 tonnes (215,649 tonnes). Production in Sarawak declined to 40,202 tonnes (42,589 tonnes), Sabah to 45,282 tonnes (46,021 tonnes) and Peninsular Malaysia to 121,962 tonnes (127,039 tonnes).
On exports, the country shipped out 99,768 tonnes of palm kernel oil worth RM473.9 million (90,972 tonnes valued at RM445.1 million).
There was a sharp increase in the country’s monthly closing stock of palm kernel oil to 450,085 tonnes (412,940 tonnes).
On palm kernel cake, the country’s month-on-month production volume dipped to 227,935 tonnes (235,318 tonnes). There was a significant increase in palm kernel cake exports to 284,031 tonnes valued at RM219.6 million (173,441 tonnes worth RM135.2 million). Closing stock declined sharply to 250,972 tonnes (285,341 tonnes).
In November 2023, Malaysia earned RM1.47 billion from the exports of 495,141 tonnes of oleochemicals and RM330 million from the exports of other palm finished products.
There was a sharp drop in the export of biodiesel which plunged to 17,971 tonnes (RM97.9 million) from 51,462 tonnes worth RM276.3 million.
Overall, Malaysia recorded lower export earnings of RM8.84 billion last month from the exports of oil palm products, down from RM9.02 billion in October 2023.
