Palm Oil: Demand and Controversy

Palm oil has overtaken soybean oil to become the most most widely produced edible oil, by year end 2006, due to the rapid rate of oil palm planting in Indonesia and Malaysia. Over 90% of the world’s palm oil exports are produced in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Indonesia surpassed Malaysia as a world leader in the production of palm oil by year end 2006. This designation will continue and Indonesia’s production rate will outpace Malaysia for the foreseeable future. Indonesia is forecast to produce 18.3 million metric tons of palm oil in 2007/08. By 2020 Indonesia’s oil palm plantations are projected to triple in size to 16.5 million hectares – an area the size of England and Wales combined.

In Malaysia, palm oil exports amount to 16.5 million tonnes, representing an increase of near 11% over 2007.The total oil palm planted area in the country increased by 4.3% to 4.48 million hectares in 2008. The expansion in planted area occurred mainly in Sabah and Sarawak with a combined growth of 7% compared to 2% in Peninsular Malaysia. Sabah remained the largest oil palm planted state, accounting for 1.33 million hectares or 30% of the total planted area in the country.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, smallholders account for 35-40% of the total area of planted oil palm and as much as 33% of the output. In West Africa, smallholders produce up to 90% of the annual harvest, and mostly for local consumption. (Chart origin: USDA)

In 2006 palm oil exports were almost double those of soy oil. As for trade, global shipments of palm oil had long surpassed soy oil, in the mid-1970s.

Numerous factors contributes to the strong demand for palm oil:

Increase on imports by China and India for food and consumer products.

Increase on imports by Europe for renewable energy generation.

Palm oil possesses the high level of substitutability with other soft oils

It has a high melting point and a low content of trans fatty acids, of special appeal to the food industry

Reconfirmed health benefits, notably as a rich source of carotenoids

Oil palm is the most productive oil seed in the world.

Palm oil is the most economic edible oil

It is the cheapest raw material for processed consumer products like soap, detergents, bio-plastics.

It has numerous health benefits, containing vitamin E to prevent heart disease and strokes with the ability of lowering of cholesterol. (Refer to Dr. K.C. Hayes' report below)

Palm oil is entirely GM free

Oil palm is the most productive oil seed in the world. One hectare of oil palm may yield 5,000 kilograms of crude oil, or nearly 6,000 liters of crude compared to 446 for soybeans and 172 liters per hectare for corn.

(Chart: USDA Commodity Intelligence Report)

Cholesterol controversy

In the 1960's, there have been opposite views cited from researches, claimed by WHO, US and Europe on one side, that palm oil promotes cardiovascular disease; and China with the palm oil producing countries on the defensive side, that palm oil increases good cholesterol and reduces bad cholesterol in the blood, and that palm oil is a better solid fat to use in substituting trans fats.

Emerging palm oil
Fate of palm oil took an about-turn after a new regulation on trans fat was tabled by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006. It requires food labels to list a product's content of trans fat, (from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil) which is a major cause of heart disease.

Dr. K.C. Hayes (professor of biology (nutrition) and the director of Foster Biomedical Research Laboratory and Animal Resources at Brandeis University, positions he has held for more than 17 years) writes:

One of the easiest steps to take is to cook and bake with oils that do not contain trans fats. Palm oil is one example of a naturally trans-free vegetable oil. Palm oil is also an excellent source of tocotrienols, an essential form of vitamin E that has been shown to help prevent heart disease and strokes by reversing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), helping to lower cholesterol and reducing unhealthy blood clotting. The palm tocotrienol complex was also reported by six independent research institutions to inhibit estrogen-negative and estrogen-positive breast cancer cells.

To avoid hydrogenated fats in manufactured goods, consumers should look for food labels that list palm oil as an ingredient. Palm oil is non-GMO and has been used worldwide in different food products, especially in margarines, snacks, fries and baked goods. Because of palm oil's natural semi-solid consistency, it does not need to go through the hydrogenation process that creates trans fatty acids.

Manufacturers can help improve public health by using palm oil instead of oils containing trans fatty acids. Palm oil-based food products has an extended shelf life since palm oil is extremely stable against the onset of rancidity and oxidative deterioration. And because of its oxidative stability, palm oil is one of the best frying oils. Nutrition Experts Renew Focus on the Health Risks of Trans Fatty Acids: Findarticles


Baked goods		Margarines		Fries		Doughnuts		Cookes

(Palm Oil based foodstuff)

References and related news:

Palm Diesel: MPOB
A Summary of the Performance of the Malaysian Oil Palm Industry 2008: Econ.mpob.gov.my
Indonesian and Malaysia Palm Oil Production: Pecad.fas.usda.gov - Dec 2007
Palm Oil Nutritional Facts: MPOB.gov.Malaysia
The Unjustified Health Care on Palm Oil: MPOB.gov.my

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