M’sian palm kernel cake can replace US sorghum for China

KUALA LUMPUR: Beijing’s anti-dumping move last week on US sorghum imports could open an opportunity for Malaysia to sell palm kernel cake to China as an alternative animal feed, the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) said.

Deputy secretary-general of trade Isham Ishak said the palm kernel cake, a by-product of the palm oil industry could replace sorghum, a niche animal feed grain.

Several ships carrying sorghum from the US to China changed course after the world’s second-largest economy slapped anti-dumping deposits on imports of the US grain, Reuters reported last Friday.

Sorghum arrivals in China fell 21% in March, while demand for barley rose, after China said in early February it would investigate alleged US dumping of sorghum. “I’m sure palm kernel cake has the potential to be used as a replacement to make animal feed. Sorghum is not only used for human consumption but also animal consumption,” Isham told Reuters yesterday. “So there could be some opportunities for our products to fill in the gaps that have been created by this trade war.”

Malaysia exported 2.2 million tonnes of palm kernel cake last year, according to data from industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

Miti has set up a task force to monitor the fallout from the US-China trade spat and will introduce its own anti-dumping rules if needed, Isham said.

“(We are monitoring from) the legal aspect, we look at trade data, and we are consulting the industries because we don’t want China exporters who are affected by the imposition of the tariffs to circumvent and dump their products here,” he said.