Malaysian palm oil futures climbed above the MYR 6,300-a-tonne mark, a level not seen in three weeks, buoyed by strong demand from top buyers India and China. India’s palm oil imports jumped 18.7% in March from the previous month as investors moved to secure alternatives to sunflower oil coming from Ukraine. The shortage of sunflower and rapeseed oils, in which conflicting countries Russia and Ukraine account for nearly 75% of the global exports, will make countries look for Malaysia and Indonesia to replace supplies.
On the negative side, exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-10 fell 20.7% from the same period in March, according to data by cargo surveyors. On top of that, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council forecast a slight rise in 2022 global output, with Malaysia’s production seen at 18.9 million tons and Indonesia’s at 47.1 million tons.
