Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA's Felda Global Ventures Berhad, the world's third largest palm plantations operator, said that its output of the fresh fruit used to churn out palm oil has dropped 17 per cent so far this year as dry conditions from El Nino hit crops.

A broad decline in harvests around the key-producing region of South-east Asia will boost crude palm oil prices by up to 10 per cent by August and then by as much as 20 per cent further down the road, Felda's newly-appointed chief executive Zakaria Arshad said on Monday. "