Malaysia palm oil exports from China fell by almost 29% in October

Malaysian palm oil exports fell by nearly 29% to China in the first ten months of 2025. This was announced on Thursday by the plantation and commodities Minister.

In his opening remarks at a industry dialogue, Johari Abdul-Ghani stated that the decline is indicative of deeper challenges, not only in terms of competitiveness and logistics but also pricing dynamics and positioning on the market.

Malaysian palm oil exports totaled 1.39 million metric tonnes last year. This is down 5.3% compared to a year ago.

Johari said that the decrease was due to higher palm oil prices compared to soybean oil.

"As soy oil is imported to China as an edible oil, both for industrial and domestic use, the buyers chose the cheaper alternative. "This is not geopolitics," said he later at a news conference.

As palm oil competes to gain a share in the global vegetable oil market, it tracks the price fluctuations of other edible oils. This includes soybean oil.

On Thursday, Malaysian crude palm oil futures traded on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange at 4,060 Ringgit ($983.29) a metric ton.

Johari said that China buyers could engage directly with palm oil producers from Malaysia. He also noted that buyers who sign one-year agreements for purchase may be eligible to receive discounts.

Johari expects the palm price to stay above 4,000 Ringgit per metric tonne by the end the year. He is also optimistic about palm oil being exported to China in the next year.

(source: Reuters)