The government will look into more details before reviewing the rate of the windfall profit levy (WPL) imposed on the palm oil industry, according to Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johani Abdul Ghani.
“At present, there is no plan for us [to review the WPL]. But we are looking into the issues raised by industry players. They told us that the cost [of production] has increased and needs to be adjusted.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar 2024 hosted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board today (Jan 11), he said: “But this thing needs to be discussed further, and we need to look at the details of the cost later.”
In November last year, 15 palm oil groups including the Malaysian Palm Oil Association, the Palm Oil Millers Association, the National Association of Smallholders, the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association and the Sarawak Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association called on the government to review and reconsider the WPL imposed on the industry. They urged that the WPL’s effective price threshold for palm oil be raised.
Currently, the WPL is levied on palm oil prices above RM3,000 per tonne in Peninsular Malaysia, and above RM3,500 per tonne in Sabah and Sarawak. The WPL on the palm oil industry has been in place since 1999, with periodic revisions of the levy rate and price threshold value.
Notably, in January 2022, the government raised the levy rate for Sabah and Sarawak from 1.5% to 3%, equalising the rate to that of the peninsula.
