Malaysian palm-oil shipments tumble most in seven years in January

Kuala Lumpur

PALM oil exports from Malaysia, the world's biggest producer after Indonesia, slumped the most in seven years in January as a plunge in energy prices and record global oilseed supply cut demand.

Sales decreased 22 per cent to 1.18 million tonnes from a month earlier, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board data show. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey published on Feb 6 was for a 15 per cent decline to 1.29 million tonnes. Imports fell 0.5 per cent to 89,908 tonnes, according to board data.