06.02.2020 (The Edge Markets MY) - KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 6): Malaysia has postponed its biggest palm oil conference that typically draws thousands of industry players from more than 50 countries, according to sources.

The Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference and Exhibition or POC2020, originally scheduled for March 2-4, will be rescheduled to June.

The event secretariat cited "space availability" as the major factor behind their decision to postpone the conference, according to two participants who have received messages from the organisers about the postponement.

POC2020, held annually over the past 30 years, is one of the most highly-anticipated palm oil conference in the region, attracting over 2,000 industry players, according to organiser Bursa Malaysia.

More than two dozen large trade fairs and industry conferences in Asia have been delayed because of the spread of the Wuhan, China coronavirus, shuttering events where billions of dollars worth of deals have been signed in the past.

POC2020 Secretariat and Bursa Malaysia did not respond to Reuters on questions about the postponement.

Edible oil prices in India fell up to 10 per cent in January, dragged by an 18 per cent drop in crude palm oil prices in Malaysia and Indonesia. The stalled supply of palm oil owing to the coronavirus outbreak in China has suppressed prices of other oils as well, including soyabean, rapeseed oil and rice bran, after they increased a whopping 30-40 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of this financial year.

China is the second largest buyer of palm oil after India, but supplies to ..

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