‘Southeast Asia rains to disrupt palm oil production’

Heavy rains and localised flooding in Indonesia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, may curb output even as demand for the commodity rises, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association said on Friday.

Output may fall below 1 million tonne a month in November and this month as the floods exacerbate an expected, seasonal dip in production, Derom Bangun, the association’s executive chairman, said in a telephone interview.
“Flooding in Langkat in Sumatra has destroyed plantation land and hurt output from the region,” Bangun said, without giving a precise estimate of the damage. Still, “production may grow about 9%” next year, less than growth in demand.

Financial Express