Malaysia, the world’s second largest palm oil producer, exported RM49.5 billion worth of palm oil and palm oil products to over 150 countries last year, which is a 24 per cent drop from the record RM65.2 billion in 2008.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said CPO prices, which are currently averaging at RM2,500 per tonne, are higher than last year’s RM2,244 per tonne. CPO prices averaged RM2,856 a tonne in 2008.
“CPO prices can still climb towards the end of the year because it is now only March.
“The demand for palm oil products will remain resilient in the coming years as the global economy recovers from the financial crisis of 2008/2009,” Dompok said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He had earlier launched the Palm and Lauric Oils conference and exhibition 2010 (POC 2010).
Dompok said palm oil production is expected to hit 18.1 million tonnes by year-end, from last year’s 17.7 million tonnes.
Earlier, in his keynote address, Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said the industry must continue to remain sustainable by ramping up yield and bolstering research and development.
“Now we face those who say we are a primary cause of climate change. We can fight this as well, but we should do so from a position of strength by bolstering sustainability.”
He said this can be done by gathering information on the oil palm genome that can help us in the future to identify superior planting materials and make money from oil palm waste.
Source : Business Times
