9/14/2005 (FoodNavigator.com) - Supplies to meet demand of raw materialsfor trans fat alternatives multiply as the first crude palm oil tankerarrives at Loders Croklaan new refinery in Rotterdam, billed as thelargest in Europe.

The first delivery of 10,000 tonnes of crude palm oil this week marked thecommissioning of the first section of the refinery, taking a slice of itshefty total storage capacity of 50,000 tonnes.

The refinery, due to open for business in October, will deliver refinedpalm oil, palm oleine, and palm stearine.

"We are now on the eve of commissioning an enormous production capacityunparalleled in Europe," says Michael van Sallandt, the refinery'sdirector.

Investment by ingredient firms into palm oil-derived products has risenover recent months as food makers look for alternatives to artery-cloggingtrans fatty acids.

Malaysian-owned Loders Croklaan is seeking to plug into this demand,particularly by smoothing supplies along the chain.

"This control ensures for crude palm oil and refined finished products ofa consistent high quality, placing the concern in an extremely strongposition," said the firm this week.

Linked to raised blood cholesterol levels and heart disease in animalfats, trans fats, created by a chemical process called hydrogenation usedin the production process for longer shelf life, have come under fire fromconsumer pressing the food industry to cut its presence from foods.

This is of course driving market demand for alternatives to trans fattyacids, which is where palm oil has stepped in.

"It can be a major ingredient in most food formulations, and in most casesyou would not even have guessed the inclusion of palm oil in suchproducts.

Take different types of margarine, for example " palm oil provides thebody or texture to these products in such a manner that no furthermodification of the oil is necessary," Dr. Kalyana Sundarm, head of thefood technology and nutrition unit at the Malaysian Palm oil board saidrecently FoodNavigator.com.

Over 26 million tonnes of palm oil are produced worldwide in tropicalcountries, with the number one supplier being Malaysia " that produced13.3 million tonnes last year - followed by Indonesia and a raft ofsmaller producers.

Consumed in a wide variety of food products from instant noodles andcrisps to cake mixes and snacks, palm oil has reaped a 28 per cent shareof the total global supply and demand oil market. Today, soybean oil andpalm oil account for over half of all oil consumed in the world.

"The EU has seen a rise in demand for palm oil, possibly linked to theanti-GM issue as well as the debate about trans fatty acids,"an analyst atthe US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service recently toldFoodNavigator.com.

And the steady prices born out by the oil are also attractive to the foodindustry vulnerable to price fluctuations from other popular oilseeds,such as soybeans and rapeseeds.