NEW DELHI: Buoyed by India’s rapid growing demand for crude palm oil (CPO), Malaysia has signalled it may sell more of the commodity but wants a level playing field for its exports.

“The preference in the market here is for more crude palm oil instead of palm olein. There is much refinery capacity that is underutilised here and India want to utilise them, we are also moving in that direction,” Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernad Dompok said in Delhi today.

Malaysia, the world’s second largest palm oil exporter after Indonesia, shipped more than 1.12 million metric tonnes of the commodity, worth RM2.87 billion, to India last year.

India’s import had surged from 6.9 million metric tonnes in 2007 to almost 8.5 million metric tonnes until November this year, making it world’s largest vegetable oil importer.

Most of its imports are from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Terming India as “immense significant market to Malaysia palm oil industry,” Dompok said exporters could not ignore the robust affluent market, where demand for vegetable oil would multiply in the coming years.

India had removed all taxes for crude imports but still maintains a 7.5 per cent duty for palm olein, largely to protect its refinery industries.

“We are looking for level playing field for our palm oil and palm oil products,” Dompok said.

“We want to see our palm oil gets entry into this market without any hindrances, so we are able to compete with others,” he said.

Dompok inaugurated the Malaysia-India Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS) 2009 today while also leading a high-powered delegation to India to promote the commodity. – BERNAMA

Source:  Business Times

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