Palm Oil Suppliers CIF Caucedo and Rio Haina (Dominican Republic and the Caribbean)
A crude-palm-oil refining market fed from Colombia and Central America, with Asian olein serving the islands around it
The Dominican Republic is a crude-oil refining market first. It declared 52,986 t of HS 1511.10 crude palm oil imports in 2025 at an average of USD 1,239/t CIF, of which Colombia supplied 43,984 t and Honduras 7,001 t, and a further 11,285 t of HS 1511.90 refined palm oil, olein and stearin at USD 1,471/t, led by Guatemala (7,346 t), Colombia (1,818 t) and Malaysia (1,007 t). Crude palm kernel oil was 1,702 t, all Colombian. The 2024 pattern was the same: 52,227 t of crude and 11,088 t of refined. The reason is tariff and distance. Oils of US and Central American origin enter at 0% under DR-CAFTA, while the MFN rate on refined oil is 20%, and a 20 ft flexitank from Santo Tomás de Castilla or Cartagena costs roughly a third of one from Port Klang. Around the DR the picture changes: Trinidad and Tobago took 11,078 t of refined palm oil in 2025, 9,682 t of it Malaysian, plus 2,257 t of refined palm kernel oil for soap; Jamaica split 4,724 t of refined oil between Malaysia, Indonesia, the USA and Colombia and took 2,908 t of crude; Guyana 4,158 t of refined, mostly Malaysian; and exporters declaring Haiti as the partner shipped about 115,000 t of bulk Asian olein in 2024, the largest refined-palm market in the region.
CBIL brokers crude palm oil (FFA 5% max basis, PORAM or FOSFA 81 terms), RBD palm olein (IV 56 min, cloud point to the buyer's climate), RBD palm oil and palm stearin, and crude or RBD palm kernel oil, CIF Rio Haina, Caucedo, Port of Spain, Kingston or Georgetown, from Colombian, Guatemalan, Honduran, Malaysian and Indonesian refiners and mills. Lots run from single flexitanks of about 21.5 t in 20 ft containers, through multi-box programmes, to 2,000 to 6,000 t parcels on IMO Type 2 vegetable-oil tankers into Rio Haina's liquid berths. Food-grade oil into the DR needs a DIGEMAPS sanitary registration and a Ministry of Agriculture phytosanitary import permit before loading; industrial stearin for soap clears on an industrial declaration through the VUCE window. The reference prices are the Malaysian FOB prints, RBD olein at USD 1,170/t and CPO at USD 1,126 to 1,225/t on 24 September 2026, and the landed-cost bar the desk works to for a third-origin refined oil into the DR is about USD 1,205/t CIF Caucedo, the level at which it matches duty-free Guatemalan refined oil after the 20% duty. A requirement that names the plant, the fraction and its specification, the port, the pack (flexitank, drum, ISO tank or bulk parcel) and the monthly tonnage gets an offer from a specific refinery; a target far below the FOB prints gets a market note instead.
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The market in figures
- DR crude palm oil imports, HS 1511.10, 2025
- 52,986 t at USD 1,239/t CIF · Colombia 43,984 t · Honduras 7,001 t · Peru 1,948 t
- DR refined palm oil and olein, HS 1511.90, 2025
- 11,285 t at USD 1,471/t CIF · Guatemala 7,346 t · Colombia 1,818 t · Malaysia 1,007 t
- Island markets, 2025
- Trinidad 11,078 t refined (Malaysia 9,682 t) · Jamaica 4,724 t refined + 2,908 t crude · Guyana 4,158 t refined · Haiti c. 115,000 t bulk olein (2024, exporter-declared)
- Duty into the DR
- 0% under DR-CAFTA (US, Central America) · 20% MFN on refined oil · ITBIS 16% on edible oil (to confirm per entry)
- Reference prices, 24 Sep 2026
- RBD olein USD 1,170/t FOB Malaysia · RBD stearin 1,120 · CPO 1,126 (MY) / 1,225 (ID) · landed bar for third-origin refined oil c. USD 1,205/t CIF Caucedo
Official trade data; sources listed below. Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.
Questions buyers ask
- Why does the Dominican Republic buy crude palm oil rather than refined?
- Because it refines at home. Of the 64,000 t of palm products the DR declared in 2025, 53,000 t was crude palm oil, nearly all from Colombia and Honduras, going to the local oil, margarine and soap plants. Refined oil is only about 11,000 t a year and comes mainly from Guatemala, which enters duty-free under DR-CAFTA. A seller offering finished olein into the DR is therefore competing against Guatemalan oil at 0% duty and a two-to-three-day container leg, which is why the landed bar for other origins sits around USD 1,205/t CIF and why Asian olein has stayed below 10% of the refined intake.
- Which Caribbean markets do buy Asian palm olein?
- Trinidad and Tobago (9,700 t Malaysian refined palm oil in 2025, plus 2,200 t of refined palm kernel oil for soap), Guyana (about 4,200 t, mostly Malaysian), Jamaica (a split between Malaysia, Indonesia, Colombia and the USA) and, by a distance, Haiti, where exporters declared about 115,000 t of bulk olein in 2024. Those are the markets where a Malaysian or Indonesian refinery price in flexitanks or a 3,000 to 6,000 t tanker parcel makes sense. Non-CARICOM refined oil pays the CARICOM common external tariff into the island states; the rate to apply is confirmed per line before any offer.
- Flexitank, ISO tank, drums or a tanker parcel?
- A 20 ft flexitank carries about 21.5 t of olein or crude and is how the regional trade moves: a soap maker taking 100 t a month is five boxes. Stearin and palm kernel oil, which are solid or semi-solid at ambient temperature, go in heated flexitanks or ISO tanks, or in 190 kg drums for small users. Bulk parcels of 2,000 t and up move on IMO Type 2 vegetable-oil tankers into Rio Haina's liquid berths and need shore tankage at the receiving end, which the DR refiners have and most island packers do not. Say which of these the plant can receive, and the offer is built on it.
- What documents does a food-grade palm oil cargo into the DR need?
- A DIGEMAPS sanitary registration for the product and importer, a phytosanitary import permit from the Ministry of Agriculture issued before loading, the origin certificate (DR-CAFTA form where the origin qualifies, otherwise a chamber certificate), the refinery's certificate of analysis, and an independent surveyor's quality and quantity certificate at load (FFA, moisture and impurities, iodine value, colour, and for olein the cloud point). Soap-grade stearin skips the food registration and clears on an industrial declaration through the VUCE window. Buyers in the DR increasingly ask for RSPO mass-balance certification on the shipping documents; where that is a condition, say so in the enquiry.
- What target price is realistic for RBD olein delivered Caucedo?
- One built up from the FOB prints. RBD olein was USD 1,170/t FOB Malaysia and stearin USD 1,120/t on 24 September 2026; Central American refiners price off the same benchmarks less a regional freight advantage. Add USD 90 to 110/t for a regional flexitank or USD 170 to 205/t from Malaysia, plus insurance, and the CIF figure lands in the USD 1,200 to 1,350/t band for olein and about USD 100/t less for stearin, before the 20% duty on non-CAFTA origin. A target several hundred dollars under that does not get an offer; it gets this arithmetic, and the buyer decides.
Sources
- UN Comtrade public preview API, reporter Dominican Republic (214), HS 151110, 151190, 151321, imports, 2025 and 2024, as pulled on 28 Sep 2026 and recorded in the desk file caribbean-palm-importers-2026-09-28.md: CPO 52,986 t @ USD 1,239/t (Colombia 43,984 t @1,248; Honduras 7,001 t @1,178; Peru 1,948 t); refined 11,285 t @1,471 (Guatemala 7,346 t @1,447; Colombia 1,818 t @1,579; Malaysia 1,007 t @1,484; Peru 930 t); crude PKO 1,702 t; 2024 CPO 52,227 t and refined 11,088 t.
- UN Comtrade, same pull, reporters Trinidad and Tobago (780), Jamaica (388), Guyana (328), 2025: T&T HS 151190 11,078 t (Malaysia 9,682 t) and HS 151329 2,257 t (Malaysia 2,193 t); Jamaica 151190 4,724 t and 151110 2,908 t; Guyana 151190 4,158 t (Malaysia 2,341 t). Haiti mirror: Indonesia 97,360 t and Malaysia 17,968 t declared to Haiti under 151190 in 2024.
- DR tariff: DGA Arancel de Aduanas, MFN 20% on refined oils; DR-CAFTA 0% on HS 1511.10, 1511.90 and 1513 for US and Central American origins with a DR-CAFTA certificate of origin; ITBIS reduced rate 16% on edible vegetable oils under Ley 253-12 (aduanas.gob.do arancel; dgii.gov.do Ley 253-12), as verified in the Gemini fact-check RESULT-2026-09-29-verify-caribbean-oil-duty-freight.md, 29 Sep 2026. Confirm the line rate per entry.
- Landed-cost bar of about USD 1,205/t CIF Caucedo for a third-origin refined oil (the level that matches duty-free Guatemalan oil at USD 1,447/t CIF after 20% duty): same Gemini verify file, 29 Sep 2026; arithmetic 1,447 / 1.20.
- Freight: 20 ft flexitank (21.5 t payload) ex Santo Tomás de Castilla or Cartagena to Caucedo/Rio Haina about USD 1,850–2,300 per box (USD 86–107/t) against USD 3,600–4,400 per box ex Port Klang with transshipment (USD 167–205/t): Gemini RESULT-2026-09-28-palm-caribbean-both-sides.md, 28 Sep 2026, carrier indications, not a fixture.
- Reference prices: RBD palm olein USD 1,170/t, RBD palm oil 1,165, RBD palm stearin 1,120, RBD PKO 2,060, CPO 1,126 (Malaysia) / 1,225 (Indonesia) FOB, 24 Sep 2026, mblionoleo.com price board as recorded in caribbean-palm-importers-2026-09-28.md; Bursa Malaysia third-month FCPO MYR 4,659 on 28 Sep 2026 (tradingeconomics.com/commodity/palm-oil).
- Sanitary and phytosanitary route into the DR: DIGEMAPS Registro Sanitario for food-grade oils (msp.gob.do), Ministry of Agriculture phytosanitary import permit (agricultura.gob.do), industrial declaration through VUCE for soap-grade stearin: Gemini palm-caribbean result, 28 Sep 2026, and the verify file of 29 Sep 2026.
- Contract and shipping standards: PORAM specifications for RBD palm olein, RBD palm oil and palm stearin; FOSFA 81 CIF contract for palm and palm kernel oil products in bulk (fosfa.org contract no. 81); vegetable oils carried under MARPOL Annex II as Category Y in IMO Type 2 ships (steamshipmutual.com, mpoc.org.my), as recorded in the desk notes page-palm-oil-gaps-notes-2026-09-17.md.