Palm Oil Exports Remain Elevated At 1.26 Million Tonnes In June

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s palm oil exports in June 2025 remained higher year-on-year at 1.26 million tonnes, exceeding the 1.21 million tonnes in June 2024, said the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).

For the same month in 2022 and 2023, the palm oil exports stood at 1.19 million tonnes and 1.17 million tonnes respectively, it said in a statement today.

“In the first half of 2025, Kenya ranked as Malaysia’s second-largest palm oil buyer, overtaking the EU27 countries by 21,000 tonnes and China by 117,000 tonnes. Kenya accounted for 30 per cent of Malaysia’s total palm oil exports to Sub-Saharan Africa, with full-year imports from Malaysia projected to reach 1.3 million tonnes,” the council said.

It added that Kenya remained a key growth market, driven by rising domestic consumption, with over 90 per cent of its palm oil imports used in food applications.

Meanwhile, the MPOC said the palm oil inventories rose to an 18-month high of 2.03 million tonnes during the same month.

Looking ahead, crude palm oil (CPO) prices are expected to stay firm, trading between RM4,100 and RM4,300 per tonne in the coming month, supported by festive demand from India and elevated US soybean oil prices.

“However, any rally in vegetable oil prices may be capped by abundant global oilseed supplies, particularly soybeans, as there is currently no shortage of oilseeds in the market,” it said.

Meanwhile, it said global vegetable oil prices have rebounded from early-year losses, led by a 19 per cent surge in soybean oil since January. This outpaced gains in rapeseed oil (6.6 per cent) and palm oil (3.7 per cent), while sunflower oil rose a modest 1.7 per cent.

“Soybean oil remains the top-performing vegetable oil year-to-date, supported by the US biofuel policy announced in mid-June, which is expected to spur demand for domestically produced feedstocks. Strong soybean oil prices have improved the price competitiveness of palm oil,” the council said.

As a result, MPOC said Malaysian palm oil exports to India have rebounded significantly since April, narrowing the cumulative decline seen in the first quarter (1Q) of 2025.

“India’s monthly imports of Malaysian palm oil remained consistently above 250,000 tonnes in both May and June. This positive momentum is expected to extend into 3Q, supported by restocking ahead of the Diwali festival in mid-October and favourable prices,” said MPOC.

It said India is projected to import about 2.9 million tonnes of palm oil in the 3Q to meet festive season demand, providing continued support for prices.

-- BERNAMA