KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 ― Malaysia has set the export tax for crude palm oil (CPO) at eight per cent for January 2021.

In a statement today, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department said the eight per cent export duty rate was set after the CPO market price reached RM3,450 per tonne and above.

The rate would be effective on Jan 1 until Jan 31, 2021, marking the end of the zero export tax enjoyed from June to December 2020, which was aimed at raising the value of Malaysian palm exports to other countries, mainly India.

The export duty exemption was also meant to help support the commodity industry as part of overall efforts to stimulate the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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At the close yesterday, CPO futures contracts for January, February, March and April were hovering between RM3,320 and RM3,646 per tonne while the physical CPO price for January South slipped RM20 to RM3,660 per tonne.

Plantation analysts located support at RM3,350 and resistance at RM3,520 per tonne. ― Bernama