Malaysia’s palm oil exports surged 37 percent to 1.61 million tonnes in May, the highest level since March 2003, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

In May, total palm oil stocks reached 2.24 million tonnes, up 2.5 percent from April and 22 percent compared to the same period last year.

Of the figure, processed palm oil accounted for 959,000 tonnes and crude palm oil was 1.28 million tonnes.

Statistics also showed that the palm oil output of the reviewed month reached 1.81 million tonnes, up 6.9 percent.

Palm oil stock is expected to rise 1 percent in June, yet exports are predicted to decrease about 7-10 percent, as importers are storing enough for the month of Ramadan.

Malaysia is the world’s second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia-VNA