Dekel reports solid year-to-date palm oil production

Dekel Agri-Vision reported a solid set of production numbers for April at its Ayenouan palm oil project in Côte d'Ivoire on Friday.

The AIM-traded firm said that, despite a 27.1% decrease in crude palm oil (CPO) production compared to the record results in April 2023, the operation had a solid month overall.

It attributed the decline to the high season in 2024 returning to a more typical peak cycle in March, unlike in 2023 when the peak occurred in April.

However, year-to-date crude palm oil production for April remained 5% higher than the same period in April 2023.

In April 2024, like-for-like crude palm oil sales volumes saw a significant increase of 45.8% compared to April last year.

The uptick was attributed to the sale of stock on hand following a strong production period in the first quarter of 2024.

Crude palm oil sales prices continued to be robust, standing at €777 per tonne in April.

Despite that, international prices remained buoyant at around €900 per tonne.

The company said it was optimistic that, as local inventory levels decreased over the coming months, local prices should gradually strengthen towards the international price.

April saw an impressive crude palm oil extraction rate of 22.5%, marking a notable increase of 5.1% compared to April last year.

The board said the trend of higher extraction rates was continuing into May, contributing to an enhancement of the company's gross margin percentage.

“Year-to-date crude palm oil production levels remain ahead of 2023,” said executive director Lincoln Moore.

“In addition, with crude palm oil prices remaining relatively high and enhanced crude palm oil extraction rates, the first half of 2024 is continuing to be a period of robust financial performance from the palm oil operation.”

At 1028 BST, shares in Dekel Agri-Vision were up 3.67% at 1.24p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.