KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Reuters) - Malaysia will take urgent measures to counter the recent slide in international crude palm oil prices and ensure that it does not become a long-term trend, Commodities Minister Peter Chin was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Chin said the government would lower the current stock of crude palm oil in Malaysia by exporting it to countries such as India, Pakistan, China and the Middle East instead of exporting refined palm oil, while increasing exports in winter to the western countries where it could be used as bio-fuel.
Other measures include increasing the usage of crude palm oil for bio-fuel production, encouraging local power producers to use crude palm oil as raw material, and having more industries use the commodity as feedstock fuel, instead of diesel, he said.
