Some M'sian Exporters Feel The Pressure To Export Palm Oil To Iran, Says International Trade And Industry Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 (Bernama) -- Some Malaysian palm oil exporters faced problems to export palm oil to Iran last year due to the US-imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic, Malaysia International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said. "We think some exporters are feeling the pressure. They were having problems in exporting to Iran last year because of the sanctions," he said when asked on the issue after announcing Malaysia’s Trade Performance 2011 on Thursday. A news agency reported on Wednesday that the halt in Malaysia's palm oil exports to Iran, which traders said started late last year, is the latest sign that sanctions to persuade Tehran to abandon a suspected nuclear weapons programme have started to bite. The sanctions, spearheaded by the United States and the European Union, have made it difficult for Iranian palm oil buyers to use letters of credit and make payments via middlemen in the United Arab Emirates to Malaysian exporters. The report said most of the Malaysian companies selling palm oil to Iran had stopped since end-2011 as payments were not coming through. Mustapa, however, said Malaysia’s palm oil exports growth to other markets would reduce the impact due to the sanctions. "If this continues, definitely there will be some impact, but in our view, it will be compensated by the growth in some other markets,” he said. The minister, however, expressed confidence that Malaysia’s global palm oil exports would continue to do well. Last year, palm oil exports to China and the United States rose 47.4 per cent to RM13.99 billion (US$4.63 billion) and 33.8 per cent to RM4.59 billion (US$151.96 million), respectively. Malaysia’s palm oil exports to India grew 84.9 per cent to RM5.09 billion (US$1.68 billion) last year. Mustapa also said exports under preferential arrangements in 2011 increased by 23.3 per cent to RM97.4 billion (US$32.25 billion) from RM79 billion (US$26.15 billion). To date, Malaysia has signed five bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) with Japan, Pakistan, New Zealand, India and Chile. Malaysia has also inked FTAs via Asean with China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Mustapa also said the outlook for the global economy and trade for 2012 was not expected to be strong. The International Monetary Fund has projected the global economic growth at 3.3 per cent this year compared with 3.8 per cent last year, 5.2 per cent in 2010 and -0.7 per cent in 2009. The world trade is expected to moderate to 3.8 per cent from 6.9 per cent last year. He said emerging and developing economies are expected to grow by 5.4 per cent compared to 1.2 per cent by advanced nations. "East and South Asia will have the fastest growth. China, India and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) will continue to be the major growth drivers," he added. --BERNAMA