LaycanDeskSoutheast Asia to Caribbean palm oil freight - Malaysia and Indonesia to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Trinidad
RBD palm olein, stearin, CPO and palm kernel oil parcels from Port Klang, Pasir Gudang and Dumai to Haina, Caucedo, Kingston, Point Lisas and Georgetown on food-grade parcel tankers and in flexitanks. Malaysian and Indonesian refined palm products into Caribbean and Central American packers and soap makers: Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica and Suriname run on Malaysian refined oil, while the Dominican Republic refines Colombian and Honduran crude and buys Guatemalan refined oil duty-free. The desk works the parcel-tanker and flexitank split, the previous-cargo standard and the tariff position of each origin before a stem goes anywhere.
The Caribbean palm trade is two lanes that look like one. Trinidad and Tobago took 11,078 tonnes of refined palm oil and fractions in 2025 with 9,682 tonnes from Malaysia, Guyana 4,158 tonnes mostly Malaysian, Jamaica 4,724 tonnes split between Malaysia, Indonesia and Colombia, and Suriname 2,215 tonnes with Malaysia first; the exporters' mirror data put Haiti at about 115,000 tonnes a year of Indonesian and Malaysian olein, the largest refined-palm market in the region. The Dominican Republic is the other lane: 52,986 tonnes of crude palm oil in 2025, 43,984 of it Colombian, refined at home, plus 11,285 tonnes of refined oil led by Guatemala, which enters at zero duty under DR-CAFTA against 20 percent MFN on Asian origin. Asian olein therefore competes in Haiti, the CARICOM islands and Guyana, and only on price in the DR.
The desk works the lane from both ends. Charterers send the product and grade, quantity and tolerance, load terminal in Malaysia or Indonesia, discharge terminal, laycan, freight basis, commission and the charterer of record, plus the previous-cargo list the receiver will apply (FOSFA or NIOP); without the refiner and the named receiver nothing goes to operators. Parcels below a few hundred tonnes move as 20-foot flexitanks of 20 to 22 tonnes on the container lines through Caucedo or Kingston; larger lots go as heated food-grade parcels on IMO II/III tankers whose tanks qualify on the last three cargoes. Operators with coated or stainless tonnage opening in the Straits, the US Gulf or the Caribbean send positions with the last three cargoes per tank, and the desk pairs them against prompt stems. Every counterparty is screened before an offer. We work by email.
Load areas
- Port Klang, Pasir Gudang and Lahad Datu (Malaysian refineries)
- Dumai, Belawan and Kuala Tanjung (Sumatra refineries)
- Central American alternates: Santo Tomás de Castilla and Puerto Barrios (Guatemala), Puerto Cortés (Honduras), Santa Marta and Cartagena (Colombia)
- Pacific-coast origins (Ecuador, Peru) reach the Caribbean through the Panama Canal
Discharge ports
- Rio Haina and Caucedo (Dominican Republic; Haina channel about 11 m)
- Kingston (Jamaica; the island's cooking-oil and margarine refiner)
- Point Lisas and Port of Spain (Trinidad; refined oil and refined PKO for soap)
- Georgetown, Paramaribo, Port-au-Prince, Bridgetown
Typical parcels
- Flexitank 20–22 t per 20-ft box, 1–25 boxes per order (small islands, DR packers)
- Food-grade parcel 2,000–10,000 t, heated, IMO II/III (Haiti bulk olein, Trinidad)
- Refined PKO 2,257 t into Trinidad in 2025, Malaysian origin
- FOSFA / NIOP previous-cargo compliance on every tank
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Questions charterers and owners ask
Flexitank or parcel tanker for the Caribbean?
Below a few hundred tonnes the answer is flexitanks: 20 to 22 tonnes of oil in a lined 20-foot box on the container lines into Caucedo, Kingston or Port of Spain, the way the small islands and the Dominican packers buy. Above roughly 2,000 tonnes a heated food-grade parcel on an IMO II/III tanker is the normal form, and that is how bulk olein reaches Haiti. The quantity and the receiver's tank decide which fits.
Why does Asian olein struggle in the Dominican Republic?
Duty. Refined palm oil from Guatemala, Honduras and the other DR-CAFTA members enters at zero, while Malaysian and Indonesian oil pays the 20 percent MFN rate, and the DR's own refiners run on Colombian and Honduran crude. In 2025 Guatemala supplied 7,346 of the DR's 11,285 tonnes of refined palm oil and Malaysia 1,007. Asian oil is the benchmark for Haiti, Trinidad, Guyana and the CARICOM islands instead.
What previous-cargo standard applies?
The receiver's contract names FOSFA or NIOP, and the last three cargoes of every tank offered are checked against that list before the ship is named. Palm products also need heating on passage and at discharge, so coil or heat-exchanger capacity is part of the particulars we ask for. Operators send positions with the last three cargoes per tank to desk-a005f1@in.laycandesk.com.
What must I send to get a named ship or box count?
Product and grade (olein, stearin, RBD palm oil, CPO or PKO), quantity and tolerance, load refinery and terminal, discharge port and receiver, laycan, freight basis, commission and the charterer of record, plus the certificate list (halal where the receiver requires it, RSPO where the buyer asks). Without the refiner and the named receiver the stem is not worked.