Malaysian Palm Oil Board director-general Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir said as there were no clear indications on how long the conflict would last, palm oil would continue to be in demand despite its current high price.

Last week, the price of CPO surged to RM8,000 per tonne, the Russia-Ukraine war being a major factor for the price hike.

“What is more important is for us to ensure that we have enough supply, and it is not limited to CPO but also RBD (refined, bleached and deodorised palm oil),” Ahmad Parveez told reporters on the sideline of the Palm and Lauric Oils price outlook conference and exhibition hosted by Bursa Malaysia today.

Ukraine and Russia are major producers of the world’s sunflower oil, accounting for 7.3 million tonnes and 5.8 million tonnes, respectively, in 2020. Together, they account for nearly 73% of the export trade in sunflower oil.

Ahmad Parveez said that ahead of Ramadan in April, CPO will continue to be sought by Muslim countries as well as India, the world’s largest palm oil consumer.

He said India had cut its tax on CPO imports to 5% from 7.5% to help domestic refiners and consumers.

“India keeps on reducing its duties and, of course, it also hopes that Malaysia could reduce its export duty … but that is quite difficult,” he said.