Malaysia CPO production declined by 7.59% in the first 20 days of October compared to the same time previous month weighed down by shrinking output from peninsular Malaysia (-10.18%) for the fourth successive month and a large fall from the state of Sarawak (-8.38%). Output from the largest CPO producing state Sabah edged down 1.11% with the prospect of further fall for the rest of the month from fresh lockdown measures. Combination of factors—occurrence of peak production earlier than the usual months of Aug-Oct, shortage of labour in view of movement restrictions order and border closure barring many foreign workers to return, reduced application of fertiliser from last year, prolonged dry weather from the second half of last year and excessive rains affecting harvesting work in some plantations—are some of the reasons for the lower than usual output in October. October full month output is seen declining by 3 to 5% to 1.813 to 1.776 million tons to the previous month and compared to 2.53% decline at the same time last year, but noticeably slower than the average 5-year production of 1.897 million tons. MPOA production for the period 1-20 October last year was up 4.06%.
Malaysia Palm Oil Association or MPOA data covers 2 million hectares or 36% of oil palm planted area in Malaysia. Leading private transnational companies dominates the membership of MPOA. MPOA data is the closest to actual MPOB data