Market Insight
25 September 2025
Palm Derivatives
In the world of commodity trading, surface-level prices rarely tell the full story. For a product like Myristyl Alcohol, the quoted price of its raw material, Palm Kernel Oil (PKO), is just the beginning of a complex cost journey. True market insight comes from understanding the total landed cost.
Understanding these underlying costs is what separates reactive purchasing from proactive strategy. At Tradeasia International, our expertise in the global palm and oleochemical trade allows us to dissect these complexities, offering our clients a transparent and comprehensive view of their total procurement costs.
The journey of PKO from a port in Southeast Asia to a processing plant in Europe is laden with costs that accumulate long after the initial purchase. As of mid-September 2025, container freight rates from major hubs like Port Klang to Rotterdam are averaging $2,841 per 40ft container (FEU). This logistical overhead single-handedly adds a significant $120 to $140 per metric ton to the cost of PKO before it even reaches the factory. Furthermore, with natural gas prices in Europe holding 15% above the five-year average, the energy-intensive hydrogenation process has prompted producers to add energy surcharges of $50 to $75 per ton of finished Myristyl Alcohol, a cost directly tied to processing the raw material.
A healthy market often has alternatives, but for Myristyl Alcohol producers, that safety net has disappeared. The other potential feedstock, Coconut Oil (CNO), is currently trading at an historic premium, with the price spread between PKO and CNO widening to over $800/MT. According to https://www.google.com/search?q=OleochemicalsAsia.com, this massive gap has rendered CNO economically unviable for substitution, funneling all demand pressure squarely onto the PKO supply chain. This lack of alternatives amplifies PKO’s price volatility and gives sellers immense market power, reinforcing our core belief that in global palm trading, success is found not just in the price you secure, but in the efficiency of the entire supply chain you command.
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