Month: January 2020

Vegetable oils constitute an essential product group with vast applications for different food
purposes as well as oleo-chemical and energy purposes. The vegetable oil market, previously
dominated by rapeseed or canola oil, witnessed major change involving a shift to palm oil usage. Since the 90s, the most competitive oil has been palm oil followed by soy oil. Both
soybean oil and palm oil account for over 50 percent of global production of vegetable oils.
With an output of 5–10 times greater per hectare than other leading vegetable oils, palm oil
is the world’s highest yielding oil crop. Given its relative shelf stability, reasonable pricing and reported nutritional benefits, palm oil becomes the long-term staple of the global diet.

Contributing to 16.4% of the population income in Malaysia, the B40 or Bottom 40%
represents the lowest household earners in Malaysia. As in 2016, the B40 is defined as a
household with income less than RM4,306. While the income level has increased significantly
over the years, the challenges to the growing inflation is especially acute in the Klang Valley,
where the cost of living is significantly higher than other locations in Malaysia. Given the fact
that the population burden in the Klang Valley equates to a quarter of the country’s total population1, there is a limited number of affordable properties to meet the growing demand.