14/07/2012 (Bernama) - The restructuring of duty tax on palm oil in Indonesia could affect the price of crude palm oil (CPO), which is expected to range between RM3,000 and RM3,500 a tonne this year, says the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

Indonesia now levies an export tax of 19.5 per cent on CPO to encourage downstream activities in the country while Malaysia charges 30 per cent duty after a tax free limit of 3.6 million metric tonnes.

"This could jeopordise any price rise in CPO," MPOC Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron told reporters after delivering a public lecture on "Palm Oil Industry Transformation: Techno-Ecological Economic Perspective", here Friday.

However, he said the production of CPO, which is not expected to see a significant increase this year, will continue to support the present level of prices and retain them at a stable level of RM3,000 to RM3,500 per tonne.

"CPO price is still being sustained at the RM3,100 level due to a shortage of production in Malaysia," he said.