KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures were down on Friday evening after official data release showed a rise in production, though losses were capped as the gain in stockpiles was below market expectations.

Industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) reported a 1.3 per cent monthly rise in July inventory levels to 2.21 million tonnes.

The data also showed production rose 12.8pc to 1.5 million tonnes and exports were up 6.8pc at 1.21m tonnes from the previous month.

A Thomson Reuters survey had forecast palm oil end-July stockpiles to rise 7pc to a five month high of 2.34 million tonnes.

The benchmark palm oil contract for October delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was down 0.2pc at 2,242 ringgit ($549.11) a tonne at the end of the trading day.

The market, however, is up 2.1pc on-week, its strongest weekly gain in three.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2018