The cheapest vegetable oil in the market is palm oil which is 24% and 34% less than coconut and soya respectively. It is reported that oil palm use there is as old, if not older, than coconut oil use in East Asia. However, seeing the growing vegetable oil demand and profits, the then Premier Tunku Abdul Rehman reversed it to 60:40, in 1965. The unrealistic policy of the government to meet the national oil demand from coconutOur national annual vegetable oil demand is over 180,000 MT of which for consumption as oil and for the food industry is about 120,000MT. The government policy to meet our entire vegetable oil with coconut oil is untenable given the limited land availability.

Source: The Nation February 13, 2021 01:02 UTC