KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 2022 –- Malaysia’s palm oil potential remains intact and its prospects will remain bright during the second half of this year, said Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin
“This is partly due to greater acceptance of the commodity globally, including that from non-traditional markets.
We attribute this to the success of MPIC’s campaign “The Global Movement to Champion the Goodness of Palm Oil,” which is intended to counter misinformation and false information on our number one commodity,” she said in a statement today.
According to her, the export of Malaysian palm oil and palm oil-based products rose by 55.2% to RM67.48 billion between January and June this year from RM43.47 billion during the corresponding period in 2021.
Of the value, 66.1% of the export earnings were contributed by palm oil which amounted to RM44.63 billion compared with only RM28.8 billion in the same period last year, she said.
In terms of volume, Zuraida said that the export of palm oil and palm oil-based products between January and June this year rose by 2.8% to 11.47 million tonnes from 11.15 million tonnes a year ago.
She also said that Malaysia recorded strong exports despite the drop in CPO production in the first half of 2022. Based on statistics by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), CPO production fell by 1.1% to 8.27 million tonnes during the period compared with 8.36 million tonnes during the first half of 2021.
“The fall is attributed to the dip in fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield by 3.6% to 6.9 tonnes per hectare during the January-June 2022 period compared with 7.16 tonnes per hectare in the same period last year,” she said.
Meanwhile, the sharp rise in export earnings is partly due to the spike in CPO prices, both domestically and abroad. Between January and June 2022, CPO prices rose by 55.9% to RM6,330 per tonne from RM4,061.50 per tonne during the same period in 2021.
“According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, export earnings for palm oil and palm oil-based products between January and May this year rose to RM56.47 billion, or an increase of 58.8% compared with the five months in 2021,” she added.
— Akses Malaysia