KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia’s palm oil exports to China jumped 33.9% in 2019 to 2.49 million tonnes but Beijing’s latest trade deal with the United States could limit gains this year, a Malaysian palm official said on Thursday.

“Now with the 1st deal done, China will increase the uptake of U.S. soybean oil,” Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s Balu Nambiappan, a senior official at the government agency, told an industry conference.

The United States and China signed an initial trade deal on Wednesday that would roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of U.S. products.