Malaysia’s dynamic oils and fats industry is set to expand due to wider applications of products in the food and non-food sectors. Last year, the industry contributed RM103.5 billion (12.4%) to the national economy, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM, 2012).
Palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil are produced locally. Some amounts of CPO, crude palm kernel oil and coconut oil are imported, as are soybean, palm kernel and copra for crushing to produce oils (Table 1).
The land area under oil palm has been extended by an average of 3.7% per annum since 2006 to exceed 5 million ha last year (Table 2). Competition for land has simultaneously led to a drop in coconut plantings, from 119,465 ha in 2006 to 108,828 ha in 2011.
The production of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from oil palm went up from 72.59 million tonnes in 2006 to 84.3 million tonnes in 2011. FFB are processed at mills to produce CPO and palm kernel. In 2011, the oil extraction rate registered 20.35%, while the kernel recovery rate was 5.07%, and the kernel oil extraction rate recorded 45.84%.
