BANGI: The current price for crude palm oil (CPO) is a good balance for both producers and customers, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) chairman Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said.
He said that the current price, between RM3,800 and nearly RM4,000 per tonne, would satisfy both global and local customers.
"The price should not rise too high as it would render supermarket products unaffordable and create issues.
"If the price increases, both local and overseas customers will start looking for alternatives,” he told reporters after the launch of Transfer of Technology (TOT) MPOB 2023 event at MPOB headquarters here today.
In a separate statement today, MPOB said it introduced two new technologies from the biotechnology and food clusters for commercialisation, namely "True-to-Type Version 2: High-Resolution Genotyping Platform for Parental Identification” and "Palm-based Mozzarella Cheese Analogue” at the event.
It said the first technology is a high-precision DNA fingerprinting platform that ensures palms with the desired genetic lineage are planted in breeding trials and commercial plantations.
MPOB said this platform would also facilitate the establishment of a DNA database and improve the management and quality control of propagated materials in breeding and commercial nurseries as well as in tissue culture laboratories.
Meanwhile, it said the second technology is formulated using palm oil as a substitute for milk fat and does not contain cholesterol and trans fatty acids.
"Palm-based mozzarella cheese analogue has the same quality and functionality as commercial milk-based mozzarella cheese and is suitable for making pizza,” it said.
At the event, MPOB exchanged technology transfer agreement documents with five local companies, namely Sawit Kinabalu Farm Products Sdn Bhd, Pj Hytech Industries, FNB Solutions Sdn Bhd, My Haiz Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority.
It also signed a memorandum of understanding with SME Corporation Malaysia for cooperation in commercialising palm-based technology for micro, small and medium enterprises.
TOT MPOB is MPOB’s annual event to introduce new technologies and innovations resulting from its research in the oil palm sector and provide opportunities for interested parties to commercialise technologies in the oil palm industry. - Bernama
