KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) remains confident that Malaysia would be still able to supply to the global demand for palm oil following Indonesia’s ban on the export of the commodity beginning today.

Its Minister, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, said the local industry could increase the production and productivity of palm oil as the borders have reopened and foreign labour have started to come in gradually.

"The ministry has also been proceeding with B20 palm oil biodiesel but concentration is not so much there...now we are going on circulating that (biodiesel adoption),” she said at the presentation of the post-pandemic Education Seminar contribution from Yayasan Margma in collaboration with MPIC here, today.

Yesterday, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto announced a ban on exports of all palm oil products beginning April 28, 2022.

The products are crude palm oil; red palm oil; refined, bleached, deodorised (RBD) palm olein; palm oil mill effluent (POME), and used cooking oil to ensure the fulfilment of domestic needs amid price rises.

On another development, Zuraida the ministry would meet the European Union (EU) on May 8 on the forced labour and palm oil issues, but it has yet to get a date to meet the United States Customs and Border Protection.

Meanwhile, commenting on the rubber market, she said she was confident that the demand for rubber gloves would remain high as the society now places priority on cleanliness by continuously using rubber gloves.

At the same time, industry players must also ensure the rubber market maintains its top postion worldwide and make sure production and quality remains intact and with an effective management.

"We produce about 350 billion pieces of rubber gloves for the global market and must protect this industry and ensure it carries on efficiently in terms technology and with a sophisticated automation system while having sufficient latex supply.

"This is because we see that China is able to build a huge gloves production facility in only nine months after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and we must ensure Malaysia remains the top producer globally,” she said. — Bernama