Malaysia: Oilseeds and Products Update

Post revised its MY 2021/22 crude palm oil (CPO) production downward from 18.2 million tons to 18.0 million tons, taking into account the effect of anomalous weather from the super typhoon Rai (a month of rain recorded in one day on December 18 in Peninsular Malaysia) and the continuing acute labor issue the industry has faced since 2019. Labor remained the biggest issue for the industry. The Government of Malaysia (GOM) recently concluded an MOU on migrant labor with Bangladesh, but a similar MOU with neighboring Indonesia, the primary supplier of migrant labor, remains outstanding. Post anticipates the labor issue may remain unresolved until the last quarter of 2022. As the price of CPO is expected to stabilize in mid-2022, CPO export is forecast to recover slightly to 16.3 million metric tons (MMT), though this recovery will continue to be restrained by production limitations and how quickly GOM is able to resolve the labor issue.