KUALA LUMPUR (June 4): The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has lauded the government’s decision to grant a 100% exemption on export duties for crude palm oil (CPO), crude palm kernel oil and processed palm kernel oil from July 1 to Dec 31.
“This announcement will definitely help to raise the value of Malaysian palm exports to other countries, mainly India because the Indian government has not continued imports of filtered palm oil,” the MPOB said in a statement.
In his televised address today, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the export duty exemptions will be deployed to help support the commodity industry as part of overall efforts to stimulate the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
MPOB also announced that CPO prices have surpassed its earlier forecasts.
It said the increase in CPO since June 1 to RM2,366 a tonne, and on June 3 to RM2,389.50 a tonne, would benefit 492,0000 smallholders and 258,657 individual planters throughout the country.
As a result, MPOB expressed hope that the increase in prices for the edible oil would also help industry players to remain committed to the nation’s development.
The board's chairman and Machang Member of Parliament, Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub, urged for support, commitment and understanding from all parties to help with the local oil palm sector, noting that Malaysia produces the best palm products in Southeast Asia.
“Contribution from oil palm has risen to 4.76% and MPOB hopes the momentum from the rise in prices will continue and help to elevate efforts to raise the socio-economic status of all parties involved in this industry,” he said.
In 2018, the agriculture sector contributed 7.3% or RM99.5 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Within this figure, oil palm was the main driver of the agricultural sector's GDP contribution, constituting 37.9%. This was followed by other types of crop cultivation (25.1%), livestock (14.9%), fishing (12.5%), forestry and logging (6.9%) and rubber (2.8%).
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