Douglas: ‘We are now more competitive with Indonesia.’

10/12/2013 (The Star) - Exports of palm oil and related products to China in the first 10 months of this year rose 16.5% to 3.9 million tonnes versus 2012, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

The shipments were valued at RM9.02bil, down from RM10.26bil due to lower crude palm oil (CPO) prices.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said at a Palm Oil Health and Nutrition seminar here that China was Malaysia’s biggest export destination for palm oil and related products.

“For the whole of 2012, the exports were valued at RM12.74bil, or 17.7% of our total global exports,” he said.

As the world’s second largest palm oil producer, Malaysia accounted for 35% of the global palm oil production and 43% of total exports.

Effective Jan 1 this year, the Government brought down the export duty on CPO from 23% to between 4.5% and 8.5%, depending on the prevailing CPO price. The export duty would be zero if the price was below RM2,250 per tonne.

While the rate has been maintained at 4.5% since March (for the commodity price between RM2,250 and RM2,400), it was set at 5% in December (for price between RM2,400 and RM2,550).

“We have noticed an increase in exports with this tax structure. We are now more competitive with Indonesia,” Douglas said at a press conference later. Indonesia is the world’s biggest supplier of CPO.

The seminar, jointly organised by MPOB, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Chinese Nutrition Society, provided a platform for discussions on the nutritional issues, facts and researches related to palm oil.

MPOB director general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May said that the Board established its first overseas research and development centre in China in 2005, an initiative that reflected the importance of the Chinese market to Malaysia’s palm oil.

Douglas said he was optimistic that demand for palm oil and related products in China would increase next year.

“With this seminar and future programmes, we hope to enhance understanding on the nutritional values of palm oil,” he said.