The Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) is expecting about 52,000 migrant workers to arrive by the end of the year but warned that it would be too little, too late for output to rebound in the world's second-largest producer.

Malaysian plantations have been struggling to harvest palm fruit due to a labour shortage exacerbated by pandemic-related border closures. Migrant workers, mostly from Indonesia, make up around 80 percent of the workforce in Malaysian estates.

The shortage has driven production to...