LaycanDeskMalaysia to Japan palm kernel shell freight - Kuantan, Port Klang and the Sabah and Sarawak ports
Certified palm kernel shell loaded alongside at the Malaysian ports for Japanese biomass power plants on geared Handysize and Supramax tonnage. Kuantan, Port Klang, Pasir Gudang and the Sabah and Sarawak ports to the biomass plants of Japan: palm kernel shell in 8,000 to 35,000 tonne cargoes loaded alongside on geared Handysize and Supramax tonnage, on a lane where Malaysia shipped 1.3 million tonnes of shell to Japan in 2025 and every tonne carries a sustainability certificate.
Malaysia declared 1.68 million tonnes of palm kernel shell exports in 2025, 77 percent of them to Japan, against Indonesia's 5.6 million tonnes; Japan took 4.0 million tonnes in all (UN Comtrade). The Malaysian material differs from the Sumatran in how it loads: where the Indonesian shell comes down river by barge to an anchorage, the Malaysian producers and aggregators truck it to port stockpiles and the ship loads alongside at Kuantan, Port Klang, Pasir Gudang, Lahad Datu, Sandakan or Bintulu with her own gear, which makes an 8,000 to 15,000 tonne Handysize lot as workable as a Supramax stem. Shell is light, so a Supramax fills her cubic at 30,000 to 35,000 tonnes, and the passage to a Pacific or Inland Sea plant is eight to twelve days. Since 1 April 2024 every cargo booked under Japan's FIT needs third-party certification - GGL in practice - and the buyer audits the seller's certificate scope before the ship is nominated.
A shell stem is fixed on the exporter and its port, the quantity and tolerance, the stowage factor, the discharge plant and berth draft, the load and discharge rates with laytime terms, the laycan, the commission and the charterer's name; Japanese trading houses usually buy FOB and fix the ship, power producers more often buy delivered, so the desk asks each side which. Owners with geared Handysize, Handymax and Supramax tonnage opening in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan or Korea send positions and the desk holds them against the shell stems on the board. Every counterparty is screened before an offer and every ship by IMO number, and the charterer hears back with named ships and open dates. We work by email.
Load ports
- Kuantan (Pahang, east coast)
- Port Klang and Pasir Gudang (peninsular)
- Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Tawau (Sabah)
- Bintulu and Kuching (Sarawak)
Discharge ports
- Japanese biomass plants, Pacific coast and Inland Sea
- Also Korean plants on smaller lots
Cargoes
- Palm kernel shell 8,000–15,000 t, Handysize
- Palm kernel shell 25,000–35,000 t, Supramax (cubic-limited)
- Malaysia 1.68 Mt exported in 2025, 77% to Japan (UN Comtrade)
- Japan 4.0 Mt imported in 2025 (UN Comtrade)
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Questions charterers and owners ask
How is palm kernel shell loaded in Malaysia?
Alongside, from port stockpiles, with the ship's own cranes and grabs; the Malaysian ports differ from the Sumatra anchorages, where the shell arrives by barge. Loading rates depend on the stockpile and the gear, so the stem has to say who supplies the grabs and what rate the port can sustain.
What size ship for a Kuantan cargo?
An 8,000 to 15,000 tonne lot is a geared Handysize; 25,000 to 35,000 tonnes is a Supramax, which fills her cubic before her deadweight because shell is light. Send the stowage factor and the ship's cubic is checked against it.
What certificate does the cargo need?
Third-party sustainability certification has been mandatory for palm kernel shell under Japan's FIT and FIP since 1 April 2024; GGL, RSB and ISCC are accepted and GGL is what the market uses. The buyer checks the seller's certificate scope before nominating the ship, so the stem should carry it.
What must I send to get a named ship?
The exporter and loading port, cargo and stowage factor, quantity and tolerance, discharge plant and berth draft, load and discharge rates with laytime terms, gear arrangement, laycan, commission and the charterer's name. With those the stem goes to owners the same day.