Current Oil Palm Production Figures

Although the plant originated in West Africa, it has naturalized in the tropical regions within 20° of the equator. The plant is most abundant in South East Asian countries because of favourable climatic conditions there.

Global production of palm oil is around 50-52 million tonnes of which 85% is produced by Indonesia and Malaysia. With 28.4 million tonnes of palm oil production in 2013, Indonesia is world’s largest producer currently. These two countries also supply most palm oil imports of India.

The importance of Palm oil in global edible oil economy can be gauged from the fact that it accounts for one third of total global edible oil production from only 6 % of the total global Oilseeds Harvested Area. It has about 60% share of the world’s trade in Edible Oil.

Consumption and Import in India

Currently, India is world’s largest importer of edible oil. The demand supply gap is such huge that India has 60-65% import dependency in case of edible oils. The import bill for edible oil is around $10 billion which is third-highest overseas spending after oil and gold. Palm Oil, imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, accounts for about 80 % of total Edible Oil imports.

Production in India

India’s share of palm oil production is small, accounting for 0.2% share in the total world produce on 1% of the global acreage. However, the acreage has been growing at a significant rate of 20% in last few years. Under various government schemes, palm oil production in India has also grown but as of now, India will remain net importer of this oil.

Currently, area devoted to oil palm is around 200,000 hectares and output is around 70,000 tonnes a year. Largest area was under Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana).  These states & UTs include Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Tripura. By 2013 figures, Andhra Pradesh is the leading palm oil producing state in India contributing approximately 86 % of country’s production, followed by Kerala (10%) and Karnataka (2%).