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The report on oil palm compiled for the 2007 Paris International Agricultural Fair

Record yields per hectare

Oil palm is by far the highest-yielding oil crop, producing between seven and ten times more than its nearest rivals (soybean, rapeseed and sunflower). Provided the planting site is chosen carefully, oil palm takes ten times less land to produce the same volume of oil as soybean. However, a farmer can manage 200 hectares of soybean on his own, whereas he will not be able to handle more than 8 hectares of oil palm, as it is difficult to harvest mechanically.
Oil palm produces almost 4 tonnes of oil (palm + palm kernel) per hectare per year.

Production and supply dominated by Malaysia and Indonesia

With 3.7 and 3.5 million productive hectares respectively, Indonesia and Malaysia account for almost 80% of the world's oil palm plantings.

Global output

Malaysia (14.9 million tonnes) and Indonesia (14.0) account for more than 86% of global output, well ahead of Ivory Coast, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Colombia, Thailand and Nigeria, which produce between 250 000 and 800 000 tonnes.

Exports

Global palm oil exports reached 26.55 million tonnes in 2005, 79% of total output. The exports were mainly from Malaysia (90% of what it produces is exported) and Indonesia (75%). In comparison, just 9.78 million tonnes of soybean oil reached the global market.

Imports

The 25-member EU (4.44 million tonnes) and China (4.32) are vying for first place in the import rankings, ahead of India (3.31) and Pakistan (1.65).
Europe imports palm oil as a food ingredient and, increasingly, for the olecochemicals industry. The market for palm oil as a biofuel remains uncertain.

Fluctuating world prices…

As vegetable oils can be substituted for each other for many uses, prices for each type vary more or less in parallel and are directly indexed to soybean cake rates. In effect, in the soybean commodity chain, it is presscake that is the main product, since it is used as an animal feed. Soybean oil is merely a coproduct.
Palm oil prices can vary by a factor of two or even three within a year… In 2005-2006, they were moderate, at between 200 and 500 US dollars per tonne.
Palm kernel oil prices, which are very similar to those for coconut oil, are always higher than those for palm oil, which is the cheapest oil of all.