Effect of COVID 19 on edible oil industry and Palm oil
The Corona pandemic has caused a havoc on the global economy. Some countries have been more affected than others. I however would like to focus on the effect of the pandemic on the edible oil industry and Malaysian Palm oil especially. Last week I attended a webinar hosted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council with Dr Bhavna Shah, country representative of India/Sri Lanka as the speaker and what she said about the palm oil industry right now is really food for thought. How has COVID 19 affected the edible oil industry? The pandemic caused shutting down of restaurants and catering businesses and hence a drastic reduction in the import of edible oils. People have reduced eating outside to a very large extent and also takeaway orders have declined. This situation was particularly grave during the lockdown period. The production of cooking oil comes under Essential goods services but the production of containers isn't. Labours migrated back to their villages from the cities in huge nu