Oleochem Analytics — Malaysia has kept its October export duty for crude palm oil (CPO) at 8%, although the reference price rose for a second consecutive month, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on September 20.
The world’s second-largest palm oil producer calculated a reference price of 4,472.46 ringgit/ton for October, up from 4,255.52 ringgit in September.
Despite a sharp decline in August, Malaysia’s CPO reference price has continuously surged for 13 months until reaching 4,668.15 ringgit/ton in July. October marks the second consecutive month of increases after the August decline, and current reference prices are close to levels seen in April 2020.
The Malaysian palm oil sector has urged the government to unfreeze the recruitment of foreign workers as an acute shortage is ongoing and could result in output declines during peak harvest and the loss of revenue for planters, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) CEO Datuk Mohd Nageed Wahab.
