China's crude palm oil imports are forecast to rise to 6 million mt in 2013, up 2% from 2011, on the back of increasing demand, a Malaysian Palm Oil Council official said Wednesday.
China's demand for CPO is growing in tandem with its economy and population, MPOC regional manager for China Desmond Ng said in a presentation to the Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar in Kuala Lumpur.
"The further processing of palm oil will play a bigger role for the product in the country," Ng was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
Malaysia is the world's second-largest exporter of CPO, and exported almost 4 million mt to China in 2011.
Increasing demand in China will curtail the current downward trend in global palm oil prices, and the additional processing capacity will add further value and give it a price premium over other vegetable oils in the country, Ng said.
CPO prices in Malaysia have seen steady declines since April due to a fall in demand for vegetable oils. The palm oil price on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website was MR2,256/mt ($743/mt) at Wednesday's settle, down MR1,227/mt or 35% from MR3,483/mt at the start of April.
