From 1990 to 2000, production of palm oil by Malaysia had been increasing yearly and this trend continued into the new millennium. Malaysia’s palm oil production increased from 11 804 million tonnes in 2001 to 11 909 million tonnes in 2002, i.e. by about 0.89% (Table 1). This is a small increase when compared to the increase in 2001 over 2000 where the growth was by 8.87% and was attributed to the palms suffering stressed conditions after four previous years of active production. Apart from the production stress, the lower growth in production in 2002 was also attributed to the threefold increase in oil palm replanting in the country as well as to the earlier drought. The yield of palm oil per hectare declined from 3.66 t in 2001 to 3.59 t in 2002.