Malaysian palm oil futures edged higher towards the MYR 6,000 region in late March, bouncing off their worst weekly drop since 1986 as threats of a Russian oil embargo lifted crude prices and boosted the appeal of the tropical oil. Last week, Indonesia surprised markets and removed its export restrictions on palm oil products.
The world’s top producer has raised its export levy instead of asking producers to sell 30% of their planned exports to the domestic market, marking a new bid to stabilize domestic prices. Meanwhile, Malaysia has maintained its April export tax for crude palm oil at 8%, while Cargo surveyor data showed that Malaysian palm oil exports rose between 13% and 16% in the first half of March from a month earlier.