Malaysia to set up CPO distribution in Africa, Europe

Malaysia to set up CPO distribution in Africa, Europe

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia has announced plans to set up palm oil distribution
centers in Africa and Eastern Europe to boost crude palm oil
(CPO) exports into new markets, a report said Thursday.

Victor Ngo, regional head of the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion
Council, said the centralized hubs would cut shipping costs by
effectively distributing palm oil to end-consumers.

As CPO buyers from Eastern Europe and Africa were small-scale
buyers, shipping freight costs would be fully exploited with the
setting up of the distribution centers, which could reach
consumers more effectively, he said.

"It's more economical to send one big shipment from Malaysia
to a single point before distributing it to smaller buyers in the
region," Ngo was quoted as saying by the Star daily.

He said port cities such as Durban in South Africa, Mombasa in
Kenya, Dar-es-Salam in Tanzania and Odessa in the Ukraine were
some of the potential locations to be developed.

"We are in the process of identifying suitable locations for
such centers."

Ngo said Malaysia should look into expanding its export
markets to avoid being over-dependent on traditional markets
China, India and Pakistan.

He said that CPO exports to Africa and Eastern European
countries last year amounted to some 500,000 tons and 300,000
tons respectively, adding that Malaysia, the world's largest palm
oil producer, had the potential to triple its exports to those
countries within the next few years.