India resumes palm oil imports from Malaysia

 

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Indian refiners have resumed the import of palm oil from Malaysia after a month hiatus by contracting around 70,000 tonnes of shipments in December.

Malaysia has been offering a 5 USD per tonne discount over supplies from rival Indonesia.

The resumption in purchases by India, the biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil this year, could support Malaysian palm oil prices, which are trading near their highest level in two years.

Malaysian crude palm oil for December shipments was available at 603 USD on November 14.

Indian refiners stopped purchases from Malaysia last month fearing the government could raise import taxes or enforce other measures to curb imports. However, the Indian government has not made any public remarks about imports of palm oil from the Southeast Asian nation.

Palm oil accounts for nearly two-thirds of India’s total edible oil imports, with more than 9 million tonnes annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.

In the first 10 months of 2019, India purchased 4.1 million tonnes of Malaysian palm oil, according to data of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil, after Indonesia. Palm oil is crucial for the Malaysian economy as it contributed 2.8 percent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product last year and 4.5 percent of its total export revenue./.