Regional palm oil plays struggle under cost pressures, price normalisation

IT HAS been annus horribilis for palm oil companies across South-east Asia, with nearly all of them reporting declines in revenues and earnings for the latest financial period.

This came on the back of a normalisation in crude palm oil (CPO) prices, as well as margin pressures due to higher costs and lower average selling prices (ASPs). 

A recent report from Fitch Solutions unit BMI noted that the year-to-date average for CPO prices stands at RM3,805.20 (S$1,110.33) per tonne, versus last year’s average of RM4,910.