Indonesia bans palm oil exports, Malaysian officials say it is difficult to fill the gap

　　China news agency, Kuala Lumpur, April 24-Huang Risheng, Deputy Minister of Plantation and Former Industry of Malaysia, said on the 23rd that after Indonesia banned the export of palm oil and its raw materials, Malaysia’s palm oil export demand will increase, but it may also face challenges such as labor shortage, making it difficult to fill the market gap left by Indonesia.

　　Indonesia announced on the 22nd local time that it would ban the export of palm oil and its raw materials from the 28th of this month. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, and Malaysia’s production and export volume is second only to Indonesia in the world.

　　According to Ma Xinshe, Huang Risheng said in an interview on the evening of 23rd that Indonesia’s export ban measures will help to increase the demand for Malaysian palm oil products in the international market.

　　However, Huang Risheng also admitted that Indonesia’s palm oil production and export account for nearly 60% of the global market, and Malaysia is currently facing a labor shortage in palm oil production, "which may not be able to afford the high export demand left by Indonesia".

　　He is worried that Indonesia’s ban on palm oil exports will make the global edible oil market unbalanced and the prices of palm oil and other oils may soar.

　　Huang Risheng said that the Malaysian government will study the long-term and short-term impact of Indonesia’s export ban and take appropriate measures to deal with it. He introduced that the Malaysian government has listed prepackaged edible palm oil as a controlled commodity and set a maximum price limit of 1 kg to 5 kg bottled oil to protect domestic consumers from the rise in edible oil prices. The Malaysian government also "has to" bear higher subsidies for cooking oil.