KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s oil palm product exports rose by 12% to 27.86 million tonnes in 2019, thanks to the aggressive promotional efforts of the Ministry of Primary Industries and its agencies.
In a statement, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said exports in November and December 2019 rose to 1.41 million tonnes and 1.40 million tonnes, respectively, compared with 1.38 million tonnes in November as well as in December 2018.
“Normally, exports would decline towards year-end due to the stockpiling of palm oil to meet the high demand during the festive period (Deepavali and Chinese New Year).
“Additionally, palm oil export performance in October-December would also be affected by the fact that palm oil would solidify during wintertime,” it said.
Crude palm oil (CPO) price in the market had jumped to a high of RM3,025.50 per tonne on Dec 31, 2019.
This was the highest level since CPO price hit RM3,060 per tonne on Feb 22, 2017.
Meanwhile, in spite of India’s move to implement a 5% safeguard duty on Refined, Bleached and Deodorised (RBD) palm olein, palm oil exports to the country had increased by 75.4% to 4.41 million tonnes in 2019 from 2.51 million tonnes in 2018, said MPOB.
Malaysia’s total global palm oil exports in 2019 increased by 12% to 18.47 million tonnes from 16.49 million tonnes in 2018.
“Other than that, the significant jump in palm oil product exports between January and December 2019 contributed to the decrease in palm oil stocks, which fell to 2.01 million tonnes in December 2019 compared with 3.22 million tonnes in December 2018.
“The implementation of the biodiesel mandate in Malaysia and Indonesia is expected to boost palm oil usage in the domestic market and reduce the supply of palm oil for the export market, thus boosting palm oil prices,” added MPOB. – Jan 10, 2020 Bernama
