Oil for ships
Short on cash, Malaysian officials would like to know if international arms dealers would accept palm oil for payment. Seeking to update its navy, the Malaysian government reached out to China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran to see if those nations would barter ships for palm oil. Malaysia and Indonesia control roughly 85 percent of the world palm oil trade. “If they are prepared to accept a palm barter trade, we are very willing to go in that direction,” Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu told Reuters. “We have a lot of palm oil.”
