CNA – The Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOP), a body of palm oil buyers, want producing countries to make sure they have stable export policies after changes last year caused volatility in the trading of the tropical oil, the head of the group said.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are currently members of the APOP and the alliance wants to add more buyers, APOP chairman Atul Chaturvedi said at the annual meeting of member countries in Kuala Lumpur late on Monday. Importing countries have built refineries to process crude palm oil, but producers are imposing higher export duties on crude palm oil than for refined and making the buying of refined palm oil cheaper than the crude grade, Chaturvedi said.
“The higher duty on crude palm oil is keeping refineries idle in importing countries. Producers need to think about this duty structure, which is hurting buyers,” he said.
Director of Indian consumer goods company Godrej International Dorab Mistry told the gathering that key producers Indonesia and Malaysia need to realise that Asian countries are their most trusted buyers and that they make purchases without creating trouble for the industry.
The sudden change in export polices such as ban on the exports imposed by Indonesia last year not only disrupts supply chains in importing countries, but also hurts producers and they should think about buyers while making sudden changes, Mistry said.
