.JPG "Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok speaks during a press conference in Putrajaya January 28, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Mukhriz Hazim")
PUTRAJAYA, June 18 — The agri-commodity sector has recorded RM52.7 billion in trade value for the period of January to April this year, said Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok.
She said in terms of the trade balance, the sector had registered RM27.7 billion for the period under review.
In her address at the ministry’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration today, Kok said export earnings of the commodity products, however, dropped 7.5 per cent to RM40.2 billion, as compared with RM43.5 billion for the same period last year.
“The drop was mainly due to the decrease in main products export such as palm oil, palm oil-based oleochemical and natural rubber. Despite the drop in export values, the volume of exported palm oil products had increased by 4.6 per cent to 8.9 million tonnes,” said Kok.
She also said Malaysia Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and China Chamber of Commerce of Foodstuffs and Native Produce (CFNA) had signed a memorandum of understanding last April, to enable CFNA to buy additional 1.9 million tonnes palm oil worth RM4.56 billion from Malaysia in the next five years, starting from this year.
Meanwhile, Kok said to date, the ministry had achieved 45.83 per cent of its key performance index set for this year. — Bernama
