KUALA LUMPUR: Palm oil plantations in Malaysia will have to stop operations for the next two weeks to comply with government orders to shut non-essential businesses to contain the spread of the coronavirus, a producer group said on Wednesday.

Malaysia has closed its borders and restricted internal movement by shutting schools and businesses from Wednesday until March 31, after the number of infections in the country climbed to the highest in Southeast Asia.

Palm oil plantations had requested an exemption, but they have not heard back from the government, Nageeb Wahab, chief executive of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, told Reuters.

"In view of that, we have to adhere to the government directive to cease operations," the group wrote in a letter to members that was seen by Reuters.

A two-week halt in operations will be damaging to the industry with fresh fruit bunches left to rot and the livelihoods of smallholders affected, an analyst said.

"Inventory is low. If we don't allow the planters to work for two weeks, after fulfilling export orders, we will be left with very little inventory which will be unprecedented," Ivy Ng, regional head of plantations research at CIMB Investment Bank told Reuters.

Malaysia's February end-stocks fell to 1.68 million tonnes, the lowest since June 2017, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

The association's Nageeb has said it would take two to three months for things to return to normalcy after a shutdown. 

 - Reuters