Fri Jan 7, 2011 6:49pm IST
* Output to jump as mature palm plantations start production
* Malaysia got no request from Thailand for palm imports-min (Adds quote, details)
By Ratnajyoti Dutta
NEW DELHI, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's second-biggest producer, is likely to top 17.5 million tonnes this year as more mature plantations start production, the country's deputy minister of plantation said on Friday.
"This year, production could be more than (the) likely 17.5 million tonnes (produced) in 2010," Dato' G. Palanivel, who is on an official visit to New Delhi told a news conference.
Higher output in Malaysia may help lower benchmark prices in Kuala Lumpur, helping large importers such as India, which buys almost half of its annual demand of about 16.5 million tonnes.
Lower prices also augur well for large Asian economies that are battling high food inflation.
Palm and palm products constitute nearly 80 percent of India's annual imports and the country mainly buys RBD palmolein from Malaysia.
Palm oil prices in Kuala Lumpur rallied to a 33-month high earlier in the week as heavier-than-usual rains stalled harvesting in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, while dry weather slowed soy planting in South America, raising concern over tight supplies.
On Friday, March 2011 crude palm oil contract KPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives fell as much as 2.7 percent on profit-booking to settle at 3,761 ringgit ($1,224.483) a tonne. [ID:nL3E7C70PR]
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board would release last year's final output figures on Jan. 10, said M. Nagarajan, an under secretary in the Malaysian government.
Palanivel said Malaysia had not received any request from Thailand for palm oil supplies. There were some market chatter about Thailand planning to import 30,000 tonnes of Malaysian palm oil as part of its efforts to stave off higher food inflatio
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