(Illustrative photo: www.business-standard.com)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Indianrefiners have resumed the import of palm oil from Malaysia after a month hiatusby contracting around 70,000 tonnes of shipments in December.
Malaysia has been offering a 5 USD pertonne discount over supplies from rival Indonesia.
The resumption in purchases by India, thebiggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil this year, could support Malaysian palm oilprices, which are trading near their highest level in two years.
Malaysian crude palm oil for Decembershipments was available at 603 USD on November 14.
Indian refiners stopped purchases fromMalaysia last month fearing the government could raise import taxes or enforceother measures to curb imports. However, the Indian government has not made anypublic remarks about imports of palm oil from the Southeast Asian nation.
Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds ofIndia’s total edible oil imports, with more than 9 million tonnes annually,mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.
In the first 10 months of 2019, Indiapurchased 4.1 million tonnes of Malaysian palm oil, according to data of theMalaysian Palm Oil Board.
Malaysia is the world’s second largestproducer of palm oil, after Indonesia. Palm oil is crucial for the Malaysianeconomy as it contributed 2.8 percent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product lastyear and 4.5 percent of its total export revenue./.
Malaysia has been offering a 5 USD pertonne discount over supplies from rival Indonesia.
The resumption in purchases by India, thebiggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil this year, could support Malaysian palm oilprices, which are trading near their highest level in two years.
Malaysian crude palm oil for Decembershipments was available at 603 USD on November 14.
Indian refiners stopped purchases fromMalaysia last month fearing the government could raise import taxes or enforceother measures to curb imports. However, the Indian government has not made anypublic remarks about imports of palm oil from the Southeast Asian nation.
Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds ofIndia’s total edible oil imports, with more than 9 million tonnes annually,mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.
In the first 10 months of 2019, Indiapurchased 4.1 million tonnes of Malaysian palm oil, according to data of theMalaysian Palm Oil Board.
Malaysia is the world’s second largestproducer of palm oil, after Indonesia. Palm oil is crucial for the Malaysianeconomy as it contributed 2.8 percent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product lastyear and 4.5 percent of its total export revenue./.
VNA
