Reuters - MPOA and James Fry

Reuters News excerpts...

Surprise drop in Malaysian palm oil output, exports to buoy prices -sources
* Arrival of fresh fruit bunches very slow-broker
* Malaysian Sept. 1-20 palm output seen down 12 pct -growers
* Palm prices set for biggest monthly gain since April 2009

The Malaysian Palm Oil Association estimated palm oil production fell about 12 percent between Sept. 1-20 from a month ago, indicating output may have lost steam after surging 22 percent to 2.03 million tonnes in August.

Peninsular Malaysia, which accounts for about half of the country's total production, may see a drop in output in September after recording a stronger-than-expected rise in August, some planters said. "It could be that yields in Peninsular Malaysia were high in August, and it may dip a bit in September and October.

For the second half of October it might come back up again," said Puru Kumaran, Chief Financial Officer at Malaysia-based planter IJM Plantations Bhd...

By Anuradha Raghu and Naveen Thukral... 
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/26/malaysia-palmoil-idINL3N0RQ29520140926
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Malaysian palm oil prices to rise 8 pct by Feb 2015 - LME analyst James Fry

MUMBAI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil prices are likely to rise nearly 8 percent to 2,350 ringgit a tonne by February 2015 as a reduction in inventories and lower yields offset an expected drop in crude oil prices, a top industry analyst said on Saturday.

"In oil palm, you will see lower fertiliser applications and longer gaps between harvesting rounds. The result will be some drop in output," James Fry, chairman of commodities consultancy LMC International, told the Globoil India conference in Mumbai.

"On top of the fall that would occur if yields simply reverted to normal after a year characterised by generally good weather."

Malaysian palm oil futures settled at 2,177 Malaysian ringgit ($668.40) per tonne on Friday, after hitting a five-year low at 1,914 ringgit on Sept. 2.

Forecasting palm oil price to rise to 2,350 ringgit, the London-based analyst assumes the price of Brent crude will drop to $90 per barrel until February. Brent is now around $97 a barrel, after hitting a two year low of $95.60 earlier this week.

If Brent crude drops to $85 a barrel, then the crude palm oil price could trade around 2,225 ringgit per tonne in February.

"Crude oil prices will ease, as supplies continue to grow and eventually U.S. interest rates rise. This sets the floor (for vegetable oils)," Fry said.

The palm oil price could jump over 13 percent to 2,465 ringgit in February if crude oil price remain at $95.

Vegetable oil prices move in sync with crude oil prices due to its rising use as a biofuel, he said. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Michael Perry)
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL3N0RS04S20140927

Source: Reuters, Thomson Reuters