Indonesia will maintain its status as the world’s number one palm oil producer by 2020 and beyond thanks to its wider planted area than its strongest rival Malaysia, according to global business consultancy Frost & Sullivan.
According to the company, Indonesia’s palm tree growing area rose 6.7 percent to 420,000 ha a year while the area in Malaysia expanded by 3.5 percent or 150,000 ha a year.
Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s two biggest palm oil producers and exporters, yielding respective outputs of 29-30 million tones and 19-20 million tonnes in 2014.
Frost & Sullivan predicted that Indonesia’s palm oil output will grow 7.8 percent on average in 2011-2020, compared with the world’s rate of 5.9 percent and Malaysia’s 2.7 percent.
Around 49 percent of Indonesia’s palm trees is still immature and young, aging under eight years old, promisingly helping the country maintain its domination in palm oil supply in the world, at least by 2020.-VNA
