Image: Pixabay
Malaysia's palm oil production is expected to increase slightly by 200,000 tonnes to 19.6 million tonnes in 2021 from 19.4 million tonnes a year ago, according to the 2021 Malaysia Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS Digital 2021) heard on January 5th.
This number was lower than the 19.8 million tons produced in 2019.
Global supply for 2021 is expected to be affected by the La Niña weather pattern, said Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) CEO Datuk Dr Kalyana Sundram.
“Disruptions caused by persistent heavy rains in Southeast Asia in 2020 could lead to tight global supplies this year,” he added.
{module Form RD EN}
Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) exports for 2021 are projected at 4.5 million tonnes, with India, the Netherlands, Kenya, Italy and Spain among the top markets.
“Malaysia’s CPO exports to India in 2021 are expected to remain strong as the current tax on CPO exports from Indonesia will give a price advantage to Malaysia,” Kalyana told the Edge Markets . Despite the reinstitution of Malaysia's CPO export duty from January 2021.
Exports to India increased significantly after June 2020 following Malaysia's implementation of a zero CPO export tax, which in turn helped support CPO prices in the second half of last year.
However, palm oil exports to China, which also saw strong demand last year, would be challenged due to lower prices of other oils relative to palm oil, Kalyana said.
The total value of Malaysia's palm oil and palm product exports for 2020 was expected to exceed RM70 billion (US $ 17.45 billion), compared to RM67.5 billion (US $ 16.83 billion) recorded in 2019 , the virtual conference also heard.
This text was automatically translated from English.
Source: Oils & Fats International (OFI)
