KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) expects Malaysia’s exports of palm oil and palm-based products to China to increase this year.

In a statement on Tuesday (April 25), the MPOB said its memorandum of understanding with the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce, and Animal By-Products further broadened cooperation between the two countries in the trade of palm oil, apart from strengthening Malaysia’s position and market share in the Chinese market.

MPOB director general Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir said the MPOB had broadened the use of palm oil in value-added food industries through its research and development initiatives, helping to secure the market for Malaysian palm oil.

“These include palm-based specialty fats for contemporary moon cakes, palm oil application in Xinjiang naan, red palm-based extruded snacks, palm-based milk tablets, palm-based Tibetan butter tea, red palm oil-based hotpot paste, palm powder fats as feed additives for dairy cattle and red palm oil as feed for hairy crabs,” he said.

Ahmad Parveez said the cooperation also allows China to participate in the technological exploration in oil palm mechanisation in Malaysia, which will help to increase productivity and reduce reliance on human labour in the plantations.

The MPOB said China was Malaysia’s second largest palm oil export market in 2022, and accounted for 11.2% of total Malaysian palm oil exports.

It said that in 2022, Malaysia’s total export value of palm oil and other palm-based products to China rose 12.9% to RM14.86 billion, from RM13.16 billion in 2021.

The total export volume of palm oil and palm-based products increased by 0.3% to 3.14 million tonnes in 2022, from 3.13 million tonnes in 2021.