Malaysia's export of oil palm products for January stood at 1,059,979 tonnes, down 5.8 percent from the 1,125,876 tonnes seen for December, cargo surveyor Society General de Surveillance said on Monday. The figure was, however, 18.8 percent up from the 892,507 tonnes it had estimated for January 2004. The cargo surveyor said its latest estimate was made up of 924,678 tonnes of palm oils and 135,301 tonnes of oleochemicals and Laurie oils.

In the palm oil category, 96,757 tonnes constituted of RBD palm oil, 359,787 tonnes of RBD palm olein, 113,386 tonnes of RBD palm stearin and 160,808 tonnes of crude palm oil.

India was the biggest buyer of Malaysian oil palm products for the period, taking 158,148 tonnes, followed by China, which bought 138,627 tonnes, and the United States with 95,776 tonnes.

European Union countries, another major destination, accounted for 254,350 tonnes of the export total.

Copyright Reuters, 2005