Palm Oil to Benefit from US-China Trade Conflict - Analyst

Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s crude palm oil (CPO) products will benefit from the trade conflict heating up between the United States and China, a securities firm analyst has said in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post reported on April 09.  

With the US increasing its tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products, China had threatened to impose high tariffs in retaliation on a number of US goods, including soybeans, which might impact CPO products, said Danareksa Sekuritas analyst Yudha Gautama.  “If the soybean price is too high, Chinese consumers may shift to CPO products,” he said.  

PT Henan Putihrai Asset Management analyst Yosua Zisokhi added that the price of CPO had started to strengthen in recent days. “Plantation stock issuers would benefit in the short term with the increase in the average selling price of CPO,” he said.  However, Yosua said this would be only temporary, as the US would soon find alternative soybean markets.