Malaysian Firms Urged to Stop Importing Crude Palm Oil

The government has urged Malaysian palm oil companies to immediately stop importing crude palm oil from abroad and use local palm oil instead, the Bernama news agency reported last week.  Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said Malaysia’s palm oil stocks in November had risen 10.45 percent to 3.01 million tons from 2.72 million tons in October.  The minister urged palm oil companies to use local palm oil as part of efforts to help local smallholders who are suffering because of Malaysia’s rather high palm oil stocks.