Breaking News-RTRS-UPDATE 1-Malaysia keeps more palm on ships as demand drags

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia's top palm oil producing state is storing at least 300,000 to 350,000 tonnes of the vegetable oil in ships as global demand drags, industry sources said on Monday. "Ideally, lean production means that less palm oil will be placed on the ships but demand has not been so good either. We don't have enough storage tanks in Sabah (state)," said a trading source familiar with the move at the state capital.
Although Eastern Sabah state on Borneo Island accounted for 35 percent of Malaysia's total palm output of 17.7 million tonnes last year, storage space has not kept up.
Traders said the state has 400,000-500,000 tonnes of palm oil storage capacity while its stockpiles range between 500,000 and 750,000 tonnes a month.
There are construction delays to palm oil storage tank at Lahad Datu port, which suggests there is no signs of easing supply bottlenecks