Malaysia eyes African and Middle East markets for its palm oil

Malaysia said it was not affected by Belgium’s decision to ban the use of palm oil as a biofuel in the country from next year.
The Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities Khairuddin Razali said this was because the country’s palm oil market was large and there were many other countries importing the country’s product.
He added that the country was marketing the products in places such as Africa and the Middle East.
He said: “Recently, Afghanistan has also asked us to increase oil palm oil exports to the country, from the current 75,000 tonnes to up to 150,000 tonnes, so we are confident that our palm oil market is still quite large and will not be affected by the ban.
“At the regional level, the increase is even more significant – we must remember that the Malaysian palm oil is of premium quality and different from other countries’ palm oil.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that biofuels made from palm oil and soybean would no longer be allowed in both the Belgian market as well as in its transport sector from next year.
Malaysia and Indonesia are also taking the EU to court over its decision to ban palm oil imports to member states in the coming years.