Gold Silver Reports — US officials have indicated that there is likely to be possible stagnation in Indonesias palm oil exports, with importers seeing better value in rival vegetable oils. The US Department of Agricultures Indonesia bureau, in its first forecasts for palm oil output in the worlds top producing country in 2017-18, pegged it at a record 36.5m tonnes, a rise of 2.5m tonnes year on year.

The improvement reflects expectations of a continued recovery in yields from levels undermined this season, and in particular in 2015-16, by dryness stemming from El Nino. However, despite the surge in Indonesian palm oil output, the bureau remained cautious over prospects for the countrys exports of the vegetable oil, seeing them rise by a “slight” 500,000 tonnes to 25.5m tonnes. That would keep exports below the 25.96m-tonne record in 2014-15, when output came in at 33.0m tonnes. — Neal Bhai Reports

USDA EXPECTS WEAK INDONESIAN PALM OIL EXPORTS | Gold Silver Reports