India’s palm oil restrictions to impact Malaysia

Malaysia is wary of a possible price war with rival Indonesia after India’s decision to impose restrictions on imports of refined palm oil. The Palm Oil Refiners Association of Malaysia (PORAM) has affirmed that with this decision by India, it will have to compete with Indonesia on crude palm oil sales. The restriction, according to industry, amounts to an effective ban on refined palm oil. Unfortunately for Malaysia, Indonesia is more competitive in the realm of crude palm oil. Last year, Malaysia had overtaken Indonesia to emerge India’s biggest palm oil supplier after securing lower duty for refined palm oil imports. Both countries account for 85% of global palm oil production and the commodity is Malaysia’s largest agricultural export.