Malaysian biodiesel sales capitalise on EU price hike

Malaysian biodiesel exports surged by 128pc year-on-year and 138pc month-on-month to 57,000t in August after European prices hit record highs in July.

But sales over January-August of 221,000t are still 13pc lower than in the same period in 2020 as record high feedstock values this year have mostly priced it out of the international market, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

Global vegetable oil supply headwinds have kept prices elevated and Malaysian palm mills have faced particular difficulties in sourcing foreign labour under stringent Covid-19 lockdown orders, which were only exacerbated when the Delta variant started rampaging through the country in July.

January-August palm output declined by 9pc on the year to 11.59mn t. High prices and stronger competition from Indonesia after it slashed export levies from July sent exports tumbling to 1.16mn t in August from 1.58mn t a year earlier and 1.4mn t in July.

The slump in sales increased Malaysian August palm inventories by 25pc from July and by 10pc from a year earlier to 1.88mn t, the highest since June last year.

By Amandeep Parmar

Malaysian palm oil data ('000t)
Aug '21	Aug '20	± % y-o-y	Jul '21	± % m-o-m	Jan-Aug '21	Jan-Aug '20	± % y-o-y
Palm oil stocks	1,875	1,703	10%	1,496	25%	1,522 (avg.)	1,820 (avg.)	-16%
Palm oil production	1,702	1,863	-9%	1,523	12%	11,589	12,722	-9%
Palm oil exports	1,163	1,578	-26%	1,402	-17%	9,639	11,154	-14%
Biodiesel exports	57	25	128%	24	138%	221	253	-13%
Source: MPOB