Kuala lumpur: Malaysia’s palm oil exports in June 2025 remained elevated year-on-year at 1.26 million tonnes, surpassing the 1.21 million tonnes recorded in June 2024,
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) reported that for the same month in 2022 and 2023, palm oil exports stood at 1.19 million tonnes and 1.17 million tonnes respectively.
The MPOC highlighted Kenya’s emerging role as a significant market, ranking as Malaysia’s second-largest palm oil buyer in the first half of 2025. Kenya has overtaken the EU27 countries by 21,000 tonnes and China by 117,000 tonnes, accounting for 30 percent of Malaysia’s total palm oil exports to Sub-Saharan Africa. Full-year imports from Malaysia are projected to reach 1.3 million tonnes, driven by Kenya’s rising domestic consumption, with over 90 percent of its palm oil imports used in food applications.
Additionally, the MPOC noted that palm oil inventories rose to an 18-month high of 2.03 million tonnes during June. Looking ahead, crude palm oil (CPO) prices are expected to stay firm, trading between RM4,100 and RM4,300 per tonne, supported by festive demand from India and elevated US soybean oil prices.
However, the council cautioned that any rally in vegetable oil prices might be limited by abundant global oilseed supplies, particularly soybeans. It was observed that global vegetable oil prices have rebounded from early-year losses, with soybean oil experiencing a 19 percent surge since January, outpacing gains in rapeseed oil (6.6 percent) and palm oil (3.7 percent), while sunflower oil rose by 1.7 percent.
The MPOC emphasized that soybean oil remains the top-performing vegetable oil year-to-date, driven by the US biofuel policy announced in mid-June, which is anticipated to spur demand for domestically produced feedstocks. As a result, Malaysian palm oil exports to India have rebounded significantly since April, narrowing the cumulative decline seen in the first quarter of 2025.
India’s monthly imports of Malaysian palm oil remained consistently above 250,000 tonnes in both May and June. The positive momentum is expected to continue into the third quarter, supported by restocking ahead of the Diwali festival in mid-October and favorable prices. India is projected to import about 2.9 million tonnes of palm oil in the third quarter to meet festive season demand, providing continued support for prices.