Malaysian UCO exports hit record high in September

Malaysian used cooking oil exports hit an all-time high of 120,000t in September, beating the previous record of 115,000t in March, according to Global Trade Tracker.

Demand for the biodiesel and hydro-treated vegetable oil feedstock went from strength to strength on heavy incentives in Europe while traders forged greater supply lines across the Asia-Pacific.

Sales over January-September rose by 46pc from year-ago levels to 531,000t, mostly to the Netherlands and Singapore with 270,000t and 135,000t, respectively.

But only a small proportion of these volumes are locally sourced as several traders collect regional cargoes there to sell onto their final destination.

Imports increased by 37pc to 431,000t between January and September. Nearly 133,000t came from Indonesia, 75,000t from China, 47,000t from Thailand and 40,000t from Vietnam.

On biodiesel, feedstock palm costs were approaching record highs in September, which combined with dulled buying interest for higher cold filter plugging point grades from European buyers as winter approached cut month-on-month exports by 17pc to 56,000t.

January-September sales are largely flat from year-earlier levels at 311,000t. Spain and the Netherlands were the two biggest buyers taking 45pc and 25pc respectively, followed by China with 14pc.

By Amandeep Parmar