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