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Disclaimer: Each reading follows a simple published rule on public data. Together they describe the data; they are not a price forecast or a recommendation, and the data may be late or wrong. For education and research only. Use at your own risk. Not financial advice.

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Palm Oil at a Glance

This site tracks palm oil from a dozen angles. This page puts the key reading from each on one screen, sorted into supply, demand, prices and the weather outlook, and says what they add up to. Each card links to the page with the detail.

What the data adds up to

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The palm oil world right now

Where the oil is grown, where it goes and where it is priced. A big dot is green if that place's data support palm prices, red if they weigh on them; small dots show rain in the palm belts over the last three months; arrows are the main export routes. Click a dot: a pop-up names the place and its key numbers, with the full detail below the map.

Supports pricesWeighs on pricesNeutral or contextDry palm beltWet palm beltEl Niño zone➜ From Malaysia➜ From Indonesia

All trade numbers on the map are USDA's yearly forecasts for the same season: exports for Malaysia and Indonesia, imports for the five biggest buyers, so they compare like for like. The buyers shown take about half of world imports; the rest is in the bar below. The percentage is each country's share of world exports or imports. Prices are shown only where a free, published palm oil price exists: FOB Malaysia (World Bank, monthly average) and CIF India (SEA, monthly average), in US dollars and in ringgit at Bank Negara's average USD/MYR rate for the same month; other buyers' panels give a competing oil's price for comparison. Arrows show the main export routes, not volumes. Click a place for monthly figures from MPOB, GAPKI and SEA, each labelled as one month.

Where the exports go

How palm oil prices connect: futures, local, FOB and CIF

The same tonne of crude palm oil has a different price at each step from a Malaysian tank to a buyer's port. Each step adds a cost; nothing else changes.

1 · Inside MalaysiaBMD FCPO, spot monthRinggit, oil in port tanks, no export duty. Futures on Bursa Malaysia; the nearest month expires into physical delivery.
1 · Inside MalaysiaLocal physical CPORinggit, the same untaxed oil traded between mills and refiners. Usually within a few tens of ringgit of the spot month.
2 · At the shipFOB priceUS dollars, loaded on the vessel for export, duty paid (Malaysia's 10% now; Indonesia's levy and duty).
3 · At the buyerC&F / CIF priceUS dollars, delivered to the buyer's port, e.g. Mumbai, before the buyer's own import duty.
FCPO futures, spot monthFOB price
Where the oil isPort tanks in Malaysia (Port Klang, Pasir Gudang, Penang/Butterworth)On board the ship at the export port
CurrencyRinggit per tonneUS dollars per tonne
Export dutyNot includedIncluded
ProductCrude palm oilCrude oil, or mostly refined olein for Malaysian exports
TimingDelivery any day in the contract monthA shipment month, under trade contract terms
What keeps it in linePhysical delivery: if futures drift from local prices, traders deliver or take delivery until they meetFutures in US$ + export duty + loading costs + exporter premium

The market's benchmark is the third month, not the spot month, which is thinly traded near expiry. Compare a futures month with the FOB shipment month it matches, since later months are often priced higher or lower.

Why India pays more than FCPO: from RM4,049 to RM4,714, and RM5,221 in September

A worked example on 6 November 2026. BMD FCPO is untaxed oil in Malaysian port tanks; India's price is the same oil after export duty, freight and insurance, delivered to Mumbai. The last line shows why September's average was higher still.

Step along the export chainUS$/tRM/tSource
BMD FCPO November contract, settlement 6 Nov1,0014,049Bursa Malaysia Derivatives
+ Malaysian export duty, 10% of the monthly reference price+109+440Malaysian Customs; 10% applies above RM4,050 (approximate)
+ Exporter premium and basis+6+23Balancing item
= CPO FOB, loaded on the ship1,1154,512SEA daily rate, CPO FOB Indonesia, 6 Nov
+ Freight and insurance to Mumbai+50+202SEA C&F minus FOB
= CPO C&F Mumbai, 6 Nov (India's price on the map that day)1,1654,714SEA daily rate
+ Prices were higher in September (and the ringgit slightly weaker)+120+507SEA monthly average against the 6 Nov rate
= CPO CIF India, September average (SEA monthly)1,2855,221SEA monthly average

Ringgit at Bank Negara's USD/MYR rate: 4.0465 on 6 November, 4.0632 for the September average. On the same day the real gap between FCPO and India's delivered price is about RM670: roughly RM440 of duty, RM200 of freight and a small premium. The other RM500 or so is September's higher prices. The duty depends on November's reference price, so it and the premium are approximate. Updated by hand.

India import margin today

Does it pay to import crude palm oil into India? The landed cost of a tonne bought C&F Mumbai, against what the same oil sells for locally at Kandla. Built only from public data and updated each working day.

StepRs/tUS$/tSource

1. Supply now

How much oil there is: stocks and output in the two big producers, and the next MPOB report.

2. Demand

Who is buying: Malaysia's exports, India's and China's imports, and biodiesel.

3. Prices and value

Whether palm is cheap or dear against the oils and fuel it competes with, and how it has been trading.

4. Outlook: weather, 6 to 12 months ahead

Dry weather cuts palm output with a long lag, so today's weather is next year's supply.

Go deeper

Every palm oil page on the site, by theme.

PricesPalm Oil Market MonitorScorecard, spreads, valuation, El Niño SupplyMPOB Countdown & NowcastNext report, forecast, track record SupplySeasonalityThis year against the last five SupplyIndonesia TrackerGAPKI monthly balance SupplyWeather MonitorRain in the palm belts DemandIndia ImportsPalm against soy and sunflower DemandWorld Palm DemandChina, India and the big buyers (USDA) DemandBiodiesel TrackerMandates and the oil they absorb DemandVeg Oil & Energy MonitorPOGO, Brent and the ringgit PricesVeg Oil Price MapFOB, CFR and CIF by port PricesVolatilityHow jumpy prices are PricesMPOB Day Event StudyHow plantation shares react Write-upsPalm market notesOne each MPOB release day OutlookPalm Oil FundamentalsThe longer outlook to mid-2027 ToolFCPO Hedging CalculatorLots, margin and basis risk

The rules

Each signal scores +1 if it usually supports palm prices, −1 if it usually weighs on them, 0 if neutral. The rules are the same as the Palm Oil Monitor scorecard where the two overlap. Supply: Malaysian stock-to-usage against its 5-year average for the month (beyond ±15%); Malaysian output against its 5-year average for the month (beyond ±5%); Indonesian stocks against a year earlier (beyond ±10%); Indonesian output against the same month a year earlier (beyond ±5%; GAPKI's published history is too short for a 5-year average); the nowcast's expected stock change for next month (beyond ±100k t). Demand: Malaysian exports and India's palm imports over the last 3 months against a year earlier (beyond ±10%); China's palm imports, USDA's forecast for the current season against the season before (beyond ±10%); biodiesel policy, read by hand from the Biodiesel Tracker. Prices: palm minus soybean oil and palm minus crude against their 5-year range (cheapest quarter supports demand, dearest quarter weighs); price change over 3 months (beyond ±5%); volatility is shown for context and not scored. Outlook: El Niño index at +1°C or more supports prices later (−1°C or less weighs); rain in the Malaysian and Indonesian palm belts over the last 3 full months below 85% of normal supports, above 115% weighs. Horizons: near term = supply now plus demand; further out = weather and biodiesel; value = palm against soy and crude. Sources are on each linked page. Not financial advice.