Malaysia believes there is room for gain in the Russian palm oil market considering the high demand in that country for fats and oils, Russian production is insufficient to meet that demand, and palm oil is the second most popular vegetable oil in the country after Sunflower oil. Total palm oil imports by Russia have increased from 150,000 tons to 626,000 tons in 2012 with Malaysia supplying 14% – an amount that Malaysia plans to increase to 25% in the near future. Malaysia is working with Russian importers to convince Russian authorities to reduce the import duty on palm oil. Upon joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) Russia agreed to a 5% cap on palm oil however Russia also has a fixed floor pricing of €120 per ton which can equal to almost twice as much as the agreed upon 5% cap.
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