Palm oil stockpiles in Malaysia probably rose to 2.21 million metric tons in October, gaining to the highest level in almost two years and nearing a record, as output beat exports, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

Inventories in the second-largest grower climbed 4.2 percent from 2.12 million tons in September, according to the median estimate in the survey of three analysts and two plantation companies this week. Stockpiles were 1.8 million tons a year earlier, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, which is scheduled to publish the official estimates on Nov. 10.

Rising reserves may weigh on prices that lost 24 percent from a 35-month high in February, while curbing profits at producers including Sime Darby Bhd. and PT Astra Agro Lestari. Cheaper edible oil may further cut global food costs that fell 4 percent last month, according to a United Nations gauge.

This “may bring prices down,” Arhnue Tan, a senior analyst at ECM Libra Financial Group Bhd., said by phone from Kuala Lumpur yesterday. “Anything close to 2.2 million tons is near historical highs,” she said.

Palm oil for January delivery gained 0.8 percent to RM3,001 (US$961) per ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange at 12:05 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur. So far this year, most-active prices have lost 21 percent on increased production.

The forecast figure for October’s stockpiles would be the highest since December 2009, when they totaled 2.24 million tons. Inventories reached a record 2.27 million tons in November 2008, according to data from the board on Bloomberg that runs to 1989.