23/03/2026 (Oils and Fats International) - Palm oil imports into the European Union (EU) dropped significantly between July 2025 and early March 2026 compared to the same period the previous year, reflecting an overall decline in consumption in the bloc, according to a report by Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Plants and Protein (UFOP).

According to latest EU Commission (EC) data, the EU imported a total of 1.9M tonnes of palm oil between 1 July 2025 and 3 March 2026, which was a slight decrease from the shipments of almost 2M tonnes in the same period the previous year.

The decline was due to the exclusion of palm oil-based biofuels from being credited towards national quota obligations, UFOP said.

Although the exclusion of palm oil-based biofuels was not scheduled to start until 2030, the policy had already been introduced by some member states, the 12 March report said.

With total shipments to the EU of 597,400 tonnes, Indonesia remained the leading palm oil supplier, according to the report.

However, the country’s exports between July and early March dropped by 8% year-on-year.

Imports from Malaysia – the EU’s second largest supplier – rose by around 4% to 484,000 tonnes.

Guatemalan palm oil deliveries to the EU market also increased by around 5%, reaching 282,800 tonnes.

According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, shipments from Papua New Guinea dropped by almost 17% to 140,100 tonnes.

The drop in shipments from Honduras was even sharper, with a year-on-year reduction of around 36%.

https://www.ofimagazine.com/news/eu-demand-for-palm-oil-continues-to-decline