China and India explored as new palm oil markets
22.03.2018 (The Star Online) - CHINA and India are among the new markets the Government are exploring for the export of palm oil, says Datuk Nasrun Mansur.
The Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said the Government would continue to look for new markets for palm oil, following European Union’s decision to ban palm oil biofuels by 2020.
“The country’s palm oil industry is facing challenges, especially from the decision by EU to phase out the use of palm oil in its industries.
“But we will continue with our efforts to persuade the EU to rescind their decision as we have a good trading relationship with many EU countries.
“At the same time, we will also look for new markets such as China and India. Both markets are huge and yet to be fully tapped,” he said in his reply to a supplementary question by Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS-Rantau Panjang) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Siti Zailah had asked what were the measures taken by the Government to ensure that palm oil export continued to grow and that small farmers would not be adversely impacted by the EU decision.
Nasrun said that apart from these two countries, the Government was also looking at Middle Eastern countries such as Iran.
“Iran is another potential market but the country has not been aggressively buying palm oil yet,” he said, adding that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board has since opened up an office in Tehran, the country’s capital.
He added that although a total ban by EU on palm oil would have an impact on Malaysia, it would be cushioned by exports to new markets.