Indonesia: Palm Oil Production Prospects Continue to Grow

A significant change in the oil palm industry has taken place during the past season, as Indonesia surpassed Malaysia in production of palm oil and is now the world leader. This designation will continue and Indonesia's production rate will outpace Malaysia for the foreseeable future. Personnel from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) conducted crop-assessment travel in the main palm oil production regions of Sumatra and West Kalimantan during August and September. The team met with palm oil estate managers, agricultural officials, researchers, and independent commodity analysts. The plantation visits were targeted in the country's most important producing provinces. Regular surveys of fruit bunches three months prior to harvest were indicative of an output surge in fresh fruit bunches. Assuming normal rainfall and based on bunch counts there will be a surge in production during the last quarter of 2007 and into early 2008. In contrast, drier than normal conditions at the beginning of the year marginally reduced output for about three months. Oil production for all major producing areas is favorable despite some dryness in early 2007. Indonesia is forecast to produce 18.3 million metric tons of palm oil in 2007/08.

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