Dekel Agri-Vision PLC on Friday said that palm oil and palm kernel oil sales fell year-on-year for the third quarter of calendar 2024, following an ‘abnormally high’ third quarter in 2023.
The West Africa-focused agriculture project developer said palm oil production in its third quarter at the Ayenouan palm oil project in Cote d’Ivoire fell 7.5% to 5,364 tonnes from 5,797 tonnes at the same time last year. Crude palm oil sales fell to 6,471 tonnes, down 36% from 10,143 the year before, whilst the average crude palm oil price per tonne was reduced 4.9% to €777 from €817.
The fall in sales was ‘largely a timing issue, due to last year’s high season arriving much later than usual, leading to abnormally high crude palm oil sales levels in the third quarter of 2023’, Dekel Agri-Vision explained.
It noted that international crude palm oil prices continue to remain strong at around €950 per tonne, providing a foundation for the ‘continued solid financial performance from the palm oil operation’.
Palm kernel oil production also fell during the three-month period, decreasing 2.9% to 475 tonnes from 489 tonnes, and palm kernel oil sales plummeted 71% to 427 tonnes from 1,463 tonnes. However, the average palm kernel oil price per tonne increased 8.9% to €853 from €783 last year.
Palm kernel oil sales were ‘driven by more localised supply and demand dynamics’, the company said.
Fresh fruit bunches processed in the third quarter were down 10% to 27,017 tonnes from 30,084 tonnes.
Dekel Agri-Vision said its cashew operation at the cashew processing plant in Tiebissou, Cote d’Ivoire, was operating on a ‘conservative basis’, as it waited for new shelling and peeling equipment to arrive in late September. The average sales price per tonne of unpeeled cashews rose 9.1% in the quarter to €3,600 from €3,300.
Executive Director Lincoln Moore said: ‘The palm oil operation continued its consistent performance during 2024. With crude palm oil prices remaining very supportive, we are tracking well for another year of profitability. With all the cashew operation new equipment installed, a significant focus of the group is now on completing the necessary testing so we can increase production quantity and quality as quickly as possible, and we are hopeful we can announce the successful implementation of the new shelling and peeling equipment to the market over the coming weeks.’
Shares in Dekel Agri-Vision were down 3.7% at 1.30 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.
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