The oil palm industry's contributions to Malaysia's export revenue are expected to remain strong in the years ahead given the competitive oil palm prices than other vegetable oils apart from the oil-palm derived food products and upstream, midstream and downstream industries.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin told the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday the industry contributed RM83.4 billion to export revenue last year.

"This showed oil palm is among the key sectors contributing to our nation's export revenue.

"However, it's difficult to state the actual revenue earned from this sector as every segment such as crude palm oil, processed palm oil and oleochemicals contribute varying range of revenue," he told Mohd Nizar Zakaria (BN-Parit) during question time.

Mohd Nizar had asked for the total export revenue earned by the country from oil palm by-products and to how many countries the products are exported.

Hamzah said the products are exported to more than 150 countries and the major buyer last year was China, accounting for 19.1 per cent of total exports, Europe (12.3 per cent), Pakistan (7.5 per cent) and the United States (7.1 per cent).

Between January and August, export revenue from oil palm-based products totalled RM47.4 billion, with China still remaining as the main export market for Malaysia's oil palm and palm oil-based products. - Bernama

(source: biz.thestar.com)