Major palm oil exporter, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) is progressively shifting its focus to India and China and away from the challenging European Union (EU) market.
SDP Group Managing Director Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said that SDP is now looking for more partnerships and business opportunities in China and India and does not rule out the possibility of supplying ingredients to the final product suppliers in the 2 countries.
Mohamad commented that amid the EU’s tough regulations on palm oil, Malaysia’s export volume to the trading bloc has been continually falling over the years. Nevertheless, SDP still considers EU as a major market and it is adhering to the stringent standards set by the EU lawmakers for its products into the market i.e. 100% of palm oil from Malaysia going to EU is certified by The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Currently, India is the largest palm oil export market for Malaysia in 2022 with 2.89 million tonnes (18.4%) followed by China at 1.76 million tonnes (11.2%), and the EU at 1.47 million tonnes (9.4%). Malaysian palm oil exports to the EU fell by 10.1% in 2022 from 2021.
In addition, SDP downstream division, Sime Darby Oils International Ltd, has sealed a collaboration with China’s Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group Ltd, targeting a combined trading volume for shortening and refined palm oil of approximately 500,000 tonnes a year.
In India, SDP is partnering Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL) on agricultural innovation and sustainable food production to enhance India’s role as a major vegetable oil-producing country. SDP will supply high-quality oil palm seeds to GAVL’s oil palm business unit and later set up a state-of-the-art seed production unit in India.
