Dramatic fall in palm oil imports into the EU

EU member states imported significantly less palm oil in the marketing year 2022/23 than the previous year.
The decline in imports was especially strong in the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.
From July 2022 through to the end of June this year, the EU-27 imported just under 4 million tonnes of palm oil.
This was around 934,000 tonnes or 19% less than the year before.
The main importing country in the EU was Spain, receiving 1.2 million tonnes, which was up around 4% on the 2021/22 marketing season. It was followed by the Netherlands as second most important importer with 1.2 million tonnes.
However, the country's imports were just less than 19% short of the previous year's volume of 1.4 million tonnes.
Ports such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam are central destinations for overseas imports and serve as ports of entry into the EU from where palm oil is shipped on to other EU member states.
According to Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the decline in palm oil imports to Italy was more pronounced.
At 803,000 tonnes, the country's imports were around 38% smaller than in the 2021/22 reference period.
The slump in Belgian palm oil imports was even sharper, with imports falling 42% to 100,000 tonnes. By contrast, Germany imported significantly more palm oil from abroad.
At 359,000 tonnes, imports were up just less than one fourth in 2022/23 compared to the previous crop year.
The Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) has welcomed the general decrease in palm oil imports. The association attributes this trend mainly to the decline in using palm oil as a feedstock in biodiesel fuel and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) production.