Palm oil prices to remain flat until year end: MPOC Chairman

[KUALA LUMPUR] Palm oil prices will remain flat until the end of the year, the Chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council said on Monday.

"The industry has been going through a tough period this year with prices hovering between RM2000 and RM2,300 (US$462.16-US$531.48) during the first and second quarter of the year," Lee Yeow Chor said at an event in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the prices were expected to stay flat until end of 2015.

Benchmark Malaysian palm prices slumped to a 6-1/2 year low in August amid a drop in financial markets that was led by a brutal selloff in equities in China, one of the world's top palm oil consumers. Palm prices have shed about 15 per cent this year.

The prices hit a near three-week high on Monday helped by exports and a weaker ringgit.

REUTERS