India is Malaysia's top buyer of palm oil and that country's efforts to push exports have been the cause of tension for the Indian edible oil refining industry
A Malaysian government spokesman said on Friday that trade ministers from India and Malaysia could meet on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.
India, the world's biggest buyer of edible oils, last week changed rules that traders say effectively ban imports of refined palm oil from Malaysia
The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a notification on Wednesday declaring that the import of refined palm oil is amended from 'Free' to 'Restricted'
On Monday, the commerce ministry held a detailed meeting with edible oil industry stakeholders and asked them informally to avoid purchase of Malaysian palm oil, a government source said
Malaysia is the world's second largest producer and exporter of palm oil after Indonesia, and the edible oil contributed to 2.8% of its gross domestic product last year
Malaysian exports of refined palm oil to India, the world's biggest importer of edible oils, jumped 727% in the first half of 2019 to 1.57 million tonnes compared with the same period a year before
India raised import taxes on crude and refined palm oil in March to the highest level in over a decade to support local farmers