Apex Edible oil industry associations from five major palm oil importing countries in South Asia on September 22 announced the setting up of Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA) at the instance of Solidaridad Network, a specialist in sustainable agriculture.
- APOA countries are; India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
- APOA held its first general body meeting on the sidelines of the Globoil Summit in Agra.
Key points
- The idea is to gain collecting bargaining power and make imports sustainable.
- Through APOA, associations aim at safeguarding the economic and business interests of the palm oil consuming countries and work towards increasing the consumption of palm oil in member countries.
- The alliance would work towards ensuring that palm oil is recognised as a high-quality, economical, and healthy vegetable oil and to change the negative image of palm oil.
India edible oil import
- India’s annual imports of edible oil is around 13-14 million tonne (MT).
- Around 8 MT of palm oil is imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, while other oils, such as soya and sunflower, come from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.
- Asia accounts for around 40% of the global palm oil consumption while Europe accounts for 12% of palm oil trade.
- Indonesia and Malaysia are the biggest palm oil exporters in the world.
- India is the largest importer of palm oil in Asia, accounting for 15% of global imports, followed by China (9%), Pakistan (4%) and Bangladesh (2%).
Oil palm tree
- The oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) represents the Elaeis genus belonging to the Arecaceae family and originating from West Africa.
- There are three main crop types for cultivation in plantations: dura – with a thick shell (2-8 mm); pisifera – with no shell; tenera – a hybrid of the above two.
