EU palm oil imports drop

Just under 1.9M tonnes of palm oil were imported by the EU in the period, compared to 2.4M tonnes in the same period the previous year, and 2.8M tonnes between July 2022 and March 2023, the 19 March report said.

Indonesia remained the leading supplier, with 608,100 tonnes.

However, the country’s shipments between July and early March dropped by 23% year-on-year, while imports from Malaysia, the second largest supplier, declined around 30% to 426,000 tonnes.

According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the slowdown in shipments from Guatemala was even sharper, at 37%. Papua New Guinea was the only country of origin to marginally increase its delivery volumes during the stated period.

According to UFOP, the decline in EU palm oil imports is due to the expiration of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) provision allowing biofuels from palm oil to be credited, which is set to end by 2030.

Tags: Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, European Union, Malaysia, palm oil, imports, shipments