Malaysian Palm Oil Exports Performance to Americas Region
(January – June 2023)
A Review on MPO Export Performance

Table 1 : A Review on MPO Export Performance (MT)

During January-June 2023 period, total Malaysian palm oil export to the Americas region recorded a total volume of  93,510 MT against 100,410 MT which was registered during the same period of 2022 (refer to Table 1). This represents a decline of 6,899 MT or by 6.9%.

In terms of product breakdown to the Americas region, the biggest product being exported to the region during Jan-June 2023 period is RBD palm oil accounting for 34% of total exports (refer to Chart 2 and table 3).  RBD palm stearin (20%) is another major palm oil product exported into the Americas region, followed by RBD palm olein (15%). Among the major importers of RBD palm oil are the USA (24,862 MT), Chile (2,137 MT) and Mexico (1,487 MT). Major destinations for Malaysian RBD palm stearin include the USA (16,583 MT), Trinidad and Tobago (697 MT) and Argentina (537 MT). Exports of RBD palm olein are mainly purchased by the USA (8,942 MT), Canada (2,647 MT) and Trinidad and Tobago (1,202 MT). NBD palm olein is another major export product, mainly purchased by the USA (1,000 MT).

Chart 2: Breakdown of Total MPO Export to the Americas Region

Source : MPOB

Table 3: Breakdown of Total MPO Export (MT) to the Americas Region

Malaysian palm oil imports by USA

The slight decline in MPO export to the Americas region is largely attributed to lower purchase from the biggest buyer in the region, the United States (US). During Jan-June 2023 period, total MPO exports to US went down to 62,386 MT from 71,712 MT recorded during the same period of last year (refer to Table 4).

In terms of product breakdown to the US, RBD palm oil, RBD palm stearin and RBD palm olein are the top three products exported to US comprising almost 81% of the overall MPO export to US (refer to table 4). Export of RBD palm oil increased by 2.4%, RBD palm stearin decreased by 12.6% while RBD palm olein decreased by 26.9%.

Due to the competitive pricing of Brazilian soybean, the US soybean export market share is declining. Export competition from Brazilian soybean will remain high in July to December 2023.  There is lack of storage space on the Brazilian farms as the main corn harvest has started. Small US exports are likely to translate into high US soybean stock and will reduce export of US oils and fatsThis led to high domestic consumption of US soybean and soybean oil, causing lower import of palm oil. Other than palm oil, Malaysia also exported palm-based oleo, palm kernel oil, finished products and biodiesel to the US (refer to table 5).

Table 4: Breakdown of Total MPO Export (MT) to USA

Table 5: Malaysian Oil Palm Products Export to USA by Product Group

Canada, another important market for MPO in this region, has been consistently importing palm oil from Malaysia for years. Total MPO export increased by 8.8% to 6,320 MT during Jan-June 2023 period from 5,809 MT registered during same period last year (refer to Table 6). The largest export has been RBD palm olein accounting for 41.8% of total MPO import by Canada. Second largest import product is PFAD at 1,600 MT, registering a rise by 255.6% on year-to-year basis, followed by super palm olein at 1,592 MT. Palm-based oleo is another product group majorly exported by Malaysia to Canada (refer to table 7).

Table 6: Breakdown of Total MPO Export (MT) to Canada

Table 7: Malaysian Oil Palm Products Export to Canada by Product Group

For more info please contact Mrs Nur Adibah
Email : nuradibah@mpoc.org.my