KUCHING: Sarawak has taken over Sabah as the country’s top producer of crude palm oil (CPO) with its production volume surged to 395,858 tonnes in July 2023. Last month’s Sarawak production output jumped by 53,522 tonnes from 342,336 tonnes recorded in June 2023.
It was the fourth consecutive month of growth and the monthly highest this year, according to monthly production data released by Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) on Wednesday. Month-on-month, Sabah CPO production volume fell to 351,695 tonnes from 356,066 tonnes in June 2023. During the January-July 2023 (7m2023) period, Sarawak posted total CPO production of 2.16 million tonnes (7m2022:2.07 million tonnes) and lost to Sabah with output of 2.45 million tonnes (2.22 million tonnes).
The Sarawak-Sabah combined production volume last month was 747,553 tonnes (June:698.402 tonnes) as compared to 862,499 tonnes (749,295 tonnes) registered by all producing states in Peninsular Malaysia. In the peninsula, Johore is the number one CPO producer with output of 252,786 tonnes, followed by Pahang’s 233,571 tonnes and Perak’s 177,347 tonnes in July.
For the month under review, the MPOB figures showed that Malaysia’s total CPO output increased significantly to about 1.61 million tonnes from about 1.45 million tonnes in June.
Last month, the country recorded higher exports of palm oil at 1.35 million tonnes worth RM5.4 billion (June:1.17 million tonnes valued at RM4.89 billion).
The exports included CPO, which expanded to 427,003 tonnes worth RM1.58 billion (June:274,803 tonnes valued at RM1.07 billion) and processed palm oil, which climbed to 926,923 tonnes worth RM3.82 billion). On monthly closing CPO stocks nationwide, this was down to 884,666 tonnes in July (June 917,382 tonnes).
Month-on-month, Sarawak’s CPO inventory fell significantly to 209,603 tonnes from 239,580 tonnes in June while that of Sabah slipped to 301,574 tonnes from 312,682 tonnes. But in the peninsular, the CPO monthly closing stocks rose to 373,489 tonnes from 365,120 tonnes in June.
On palm kernel, Malaysia’s total production volume last month leapt to 386,815 tonnes (June:350,516 tonnes). Sarawak saw sharply higher production volume to 88,444 tonnes (74,838 tonnes) and emerged as the top producer in the country. Production volume in Sabah declined to 73,911 tonnes (76,154 tonnes) but that in peninsula grew to 224,460 tonnes (199,524 tonnes).
The country’s closing palm kernel stocks last month increased to 147,055 tonnes (132,393 tonnes). Malaysia’s crude palm kernel oil production shot up to 172,242 tonnes last month (June:161,748 tonnes). For Sarawak, production volume climbed to 36,238 tonnes (29,174 tonnes) and it was a decline to 34,848 tonnes (36,725 tonnes) for Sabah.
Production output in the peninsula grew to 101,156 tonnes (95,849 tonnes). On exports, Malaysia earned RM380.6 million from the exports of 77,729 tonnes of palm kernel oil last month and this was much higher than RM335.9 million (64,325 tonnes) in June. The exports earnings comprised crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) of RM133.7 million (RM39.5 million) and processed palm kernel oil (PPKO) of RM246.9 million (RM296.4 million).
For the country, the monthly closing stocks of palm kernel oil expanded to 352,236 tonnes last month (349,547 tonnes). The closing stocks for CPKO were down to 204,369 tonnes (207,525 tonnes) but that of PPKO increased to 147,867 tonnes (142,022 tonnes). On palm kernel cake, the country’s July production volume was raised to 190,110 tonnes (180,852 tonnes). In line with the national trend, production in Sarawak rose to 38,636 tonnes (33,469 tonnes) and in peninsular expanded to 111,766 tonnes (106,525 tonnes). But it was the reverse in Sabah with production volume dipped to 39,508 tonnes (40,858 tonnes).
Last month, Malaysia’s export earnings from palm kernel cake soared to RM128 million (194,438 tonnes) from RM94.9 million (133,125 tonnes) in June. The MPOB data also showed that the exports of oleochemicals earned less last month at RM1.23 billion (June:RM1.28 billion) despite increase in export volume to 228,954 tonnes from 224,670 tonnes in June. On the other hand, the export revenue from biodiesel almost doubled to RM105 million (16,801 tonnes) from RM58.1 million (12,927 tonnes). Overall, Malaysia’s total export receipts for the export of oil palm products grew to RM7.9 billion last month from RM7.31 million in June.
