kuala lumpur feb 10 reuters  malaysias palm oil inventories dropped more than anticipated at the end of january hitting a sixmonth low as production and imports slumped data from the industry regulator showed on thursday stockpiles fell 385 from the previous month to 155 million tonnes the lowest since july according to the data from the malaysian palm oil board mpob the sharp decline was due to a large upward revision to decembers endmonth stocks by 31554 tonnes making the base higher said sathia varqa cofounder of singaporebased palm oil analytics exports and production saw a large fall as expected reflecting continuing challenges with production he added the worlds secondlargest producer has grappled with persistent labour shortages and recent flooding which hammered production for a third consecutive month output shrank 1354 to 125 million tonnes the lowest since february last year the lower exports were partly due to soaring palm oil prices  raising the premium over rival soft oil and hurting demand in price sensitive markets like india however traders expect exports to perform better in february due to indonesia exports restrictions and amid increased demand ahead of theislamic holy month of ramadan indonesia had expanded its export permit requirement for palm oil products where exporters must sell 20 of their planned exports at home and with a price cap to include other derivatives given the complexity in the indonesian domestic market obligation dmo and exports restrictions the market share of malaysias palm shipments should increase earlier than the second half of february said marcello cultrera institutional sales manager at phillip futures in kuala lumpur following is a breakdown of the malaysian palm oil board figures and reuters estimates for january volumes in tonnes  indicates revised figures by the malaysian palm oil board