Challenges facing the palm oil industry
The Star Online (08/03/2018) - KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs to overcome many challenges to enable the country's palm oil industry to thrive, said Oil World executive director Thomas Mielke.
He said there was a lack of oil palm replanting, deteriorating tree age profile, labour shortage and acreage limitation for new planters, all of which prevented palm oil yields from reaching full potential.
“This is a year of surplus for palm oil but by 2020, we may start to see shortages and this may continue on thereafter,” he told reporters at the Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference and Exhibition 2018 here.
Mielke forecast palm oil production in Malaysia to reach 20.76 million tonnes this year compared with 19.92 million tonnes in 2017. — Bernama