Dekel Agri-Vision celebrates "strong start" to year as CPO rebounds

(Alliance News) - Dekel Agri-Vision PLC on Friday reported "a strong pickup" in crude palm oil production last month, and was similarly positive on its cashew operation.

In response, shares in Dekel rose on Friday morning, but were trading 4.5% lower at 0.41 pence that afternoon in London.

Dekel said that in March, its palm oil operation "delivered a strong pickup" in CPO production volumes, increasing 21% compared with the same month last year, and after "a softer start" to 2026.

CPO production, in the first quarter of 2026, fell 4.9% annually to 10,443 tonnes from 10,982 tonnes. Still, Dekel said the March production hike marked "the commencement of the high season, which is expected to continue into April 2026." Palm kernel oil production fell 21% to 535 tonnes from 674 tonnes.

The CPO sales price was "broadly stable" at EUR968 per tonne. The average palm kernel oil price rose 9.7% to EUR1,335 from EUR1,217 per tonne.

The CPO extraction rate decreased to 21.9% from 22.2%, but remained "at robust levels relative to historical performance," Dekel said.

The West Africa-focused agricultural company's cashew operation, meanwhile, "is performing strongly and is tracking ahead of last year," it said. Cashew production surged 74% on-year to 366 tonnes from 211 tonnes, and sales more than doubled to 421 tonnes from 172 tonnes.

Raw cashew nut processing rose 39% to 1,217 tonnes from 879 tonnes, "[returning] to normalised levels during March, following a period of stock conservation ahead of the commencement of the RCN buying season, which is now underway."

Dekel also reported a "strong" extraction rate of 30.0%, up from 24.0%, although it noted that this "includes a significant contribution from unpeeled cashews related to third-party RCN which has [a] higher extraction rate."

"The company delivered a strong start to 2026 across both the palm oil and cashew operations," commented Chief Executive Officer Youval Rasin. "Palm oil production rebounded in March, marking the onset of the high season, while crude palm oil and palm kernel oil prices remain at historically elevated levels.

"Meanwhile, the cashew operation continues its momentum with production and sales volumes significantly ahead of last year.

"The company expects these positive trends to continue in Q2 2026."

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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