# Muted Ramadan, Hari Raya amid pandemic slam seasonal rise in palm oil demand | Malaysiakini

> Coronavirus lockdowns during Ramadan and Hari Raya are expected to keep palm oil demand from Muslim-majority importers such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Iran well below its usual seasonal peak. Purchases picked up in early March but slumped as lockdowns spread, and Malaysia's March palm oil exports fell 27% year on year. Malaysia's benchmark crude palm oil price has already dropped nearly 30% since January 23.

- Date: 2020-04-21 · published 2020-04-21T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: trade · region Malaysia · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/53741-muted-ramadan-hari-raya-amid-pandemic-slam-seasonal-rise-in-palm-oil-demand
- Commodities: [Palm Oil](https://feedsoft.ai/c/PALMOIL.md)

## Why it matters

Missing the Ramadan restocking window removes a key source of seasonal demand, which adds downward pressure on Malaysian crude palm oil prices and on vegetable oil values more broadly.

## Read by commodity

- PALMOIL: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PALMOIL | 2020-05-01 | [Palm oil market to miss out on traditionally high Ramadan demand…](https://feedsoft.ai/events/11553-palm-oil-market-to-miss-out-on-traditionally-high-ramadan-demand.md) | -10.4% | -3.7% |
| PALMOIL | 2018-05-03 | [Malaysian palm oil price slides to 16-month low on weak demand \| The Star](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6612-malaysian-palm-oil-price-slides-to-16-month-low-on-weak-demand-the-star.md) | +0.0% | +1.5% |
| PALMOIL | 2019-02-03 | [New policies needed to regulate palm oil production and price \| Malaysiakini](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6971-new-policies-needed-to-regulate-palm-oil-production-and-price-malaysiakini.md) | 0.0% | -6.2% |
| PALMOIL | 2017-09-28 | [Palm oil faces rising protectionism and national pressures - The Malaysian Reserve](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5642-palm-oil-faces-rising-protectionism-and-national-pressures-the-malaysian-reserve.md) | -2.9% | -1.7% |
| PALMOIL | 2025-11-01 | [Palm Oil Magazine - CPO Prices Decline Amid Rising Global Soybean Demand, Friday, Oct 31, 2025 - Palm Oil Magazine](https://feedsoft.ai/events/4448-palm-oil-magazine-cpo-prices-decline-amid-rising-global-soybean-demand-friday.md) | -6.2% | -5.7% |

## Sources

- staging.malaysiakini.com: https://staging.malaysiakini.com/news/521837-muted-ramadan-hari-raya-amid-pandemic-slam-seasonal-rise-in-palm-oil-demand

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.