PALM OIL EXPORTS RISE TO RM24.7B

Sector on track to cross RM70b target by year-end, says minister

OOI TEE CHING

KUALA LUMPUR bt@mediaprima.com.my

MALAYSIA’S palm oil exports rose 37 per cent to RM24.73 billion in the first four months of this year compared with RM18.05 billion in the same period last year, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.

“We saw a 37 per cent rise in revenue from palm oil exports due to the higher average pricing from last year.

“This is a very good sign. We are on track to surpassing the RM70 billion target by the end of this year,” he said.

Mah said this after receiving a courtesy call from Jeremy Fauconnier, the great grandson of Frenchman Henri Fauconnier — the planter who first commercialised oil palm cultivation in Malaysia at Tennamaram Estate in Kuala Selangor a hundred years ago. Today, the estate belongs to Sime Darby Bhd.

On the trade barriers faced by palm oil exporters, the minister said the single certification threat, as proposed by the European Parliament, was a signal for Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification to be recog- nised universally.

“We are of the view that if Europe wants proof of sustainably-grown palm oil, it should respect and accept certifications from producer countries,” said Mah.

He said the MSPO was the ideal platform to show the world that palm oil production was carried out on a balanced needs of people, profits and planet.

“I strongly believe the process of MSPO certification can improve productivity in the face of scarce resources, such as land and labour,” he added.

The minister reiterated that the palm oil industry was the main pillar of the commodities sector today, contributing RM67.6 billion in export value last year, which was equivalent to 6.1 per cent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product.

With more than two million Malaysians involved in the palm oil value chain, including 644,522 smallholders, Mah said the impact of the industry on the wellbeing of the rakyat was undeniably huge.

Rise in palm oil exports for four months this year compared with

same period last year