Malaysian palm oil futures touched a 4-week high of 6465 MYR a tonne booked an over 9% gain for the week, the biggest weekly jump in more than six months, buoyed by worries over tight supply and strong demand from top buyers India and China. The shortage of sunflower and rapeseed oils, which Russia and Ukraine account for nearly 75% of the global exports, is forcing major importers to look for alternatives including palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia.
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. Meanwhile, exports of Malaysian palm oil products for April 1-10 fell 19.3% 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 tonnes and Indonesia’s at 47.1 million tonnes.
