MPOC seeks new markets as EU phases out biofuel
Malaysian Palm Oil Council responds to EU plan to phase out biofuel by Dec 2030
THE Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) will continue to aggressively market palm oil to other countries in view of the European Union’s (EU) decision to end palm oil use for its transport sector by 2030.
MPOC chief executive officer Datuk Dr Kalyana Sundram noted on June 14, EU lawmakers agreed not to ban palm oil from January 2021 but proposed to phase out palm oil biofuel by December 2030.
“The EU has stated that palm oil biofuel will be phased out by 2030. The EU will probably reengage with new demands and we will continue to address these via the EU Commission, parliamentarians and the EU Council,” he said.
Kalyana also said MPOC, along with other stakeholders, would review these conditions to ensure that they comply with the World Trade Organisation rules and were compatible with the EUMalaysia free-trade agreement that could emerge in the future.
He gave the assurance that MPOC would enhance engagements with palm oil consumers in Europe to better understand their challenges and requirements while drawing up greater collaborative programmes that would keep them loyal to palm oil.
“We will continue to aggressively develop alternate markets for Malaysian palm oil in the runup to 2030,” he said at a briefing, here, yesterday.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament had called for a total ban on palm oil usage in transportation from January 2021.
The EU felt that it had become too reliant on using palm oil as a feedstock for biofuels over its locally produced rapeseed.
According to data from Copenhagen Economics, half of the EU’s €6 billion (RM27.9 billion) worth of palm oil imports were used for biodiesel.
Malaysia is the world’s secondlargest palm oil producer after Indonesia, and the two nations account for nearly 90 per cent of global output of 60 million tonnes.