Recent restrictions on Indonesian palm oil exports, weather factors in South America, soaring international oil prices and a shortage of palm oil supply in Malaysia have led to another record high in palm oil prices. This means that domestic cooking oil, which is not subject to price controls, will also follow the big rise!
Indonesia, the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, announced last week that it is mandatory for all edible oil exporters to divert 20% of their planned exports to domestic sales. This measure pushed global edible oil prices even higher.
Palm oil supplies from Malaysia and Indonesia have been low for the past year. The government restricted the entry of foreign workers during the outbreak, which led to a lack of labor in Malaysia’s palm industry. Many palm operators in the country have complained that palm tree production has suffered due to a lack of labor to fertilize and pick palm trees, while palm oil prices have been gradually climbing.
The current price of mixed edible oil in the country is already high, with a 5kg bottle of mixed edible oil costing close to RM40. If the international price of palm oil continues to rise, the price of domestic cooking oil will also rise, and the country will be forced to eat expensive oil.
But fortunately, the government has classified pure palm cooking oil as a uniform product, and the price of a 1KG package of cooking oil is RM2.50, while the price of a bottle of pure palm cooking oil cannot exceed RM30.
