The palm oil market - France

L' palm oil is a vegetable oil extracted by hot pressing from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm. Worldwide, palm oil is mainly used for human food, then in the oleochemical industry (cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, etc.) and increasingly, but still in a minority, in the bio-energy sector The palm oil value chain consists of several stages: production of the basic raw material (crude palm oil), transportation to the processing site, obtaining the final product (often refined oil), sale to the end user, marketing and sale to consumers. There are two main reasons for the success of palm oil: its high profitability and low cost on the one hand, and its special physico-chemical properties on the other Palm oil is thus the most widely consumed vegetable oil in the world (35%). [ OECD ] Malaysia and Indonesia dominate the palm oil market as they share between them more than 80% of production . On the demand side, on the other hand, the European Union is the world's second largest importer behind India. Moreover, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy together accounted for 81.5% of the EU's palm oil diesel production in 2019 France, for its part, uses 75% of its palm oil imports in biofuel production . Thus, in December 2018, the publication by the European Union of the Red II directive, which represents a first step towards banning palm oil in fuels by 2030, is weighing heavily on the French market. In Europe, and particularly in France, the opposition between oil groups, industries and producing countries, particularly Indonesia, governments and NGOs has since continued the debate on palm oil, as the European Union is the world's second largest importer of palm oil. For several years, the world palm oil market are betting on the durable development and the traceability of production to get rid of the negative image of this edible oil conveyed by the multiple awareness campaigns conducted by NGOs. L' palm oil is indeed accused of being unhealthy but above all for the environment in producing countries. In response to these dangers, the emergence in 2004 of "certified sustainable" palm oil aims to promote the sustainable development of the palm oil industry. However, it is still criticised by NGOs because it is considered inefficient.