Colombia is the world’s fourth largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Within the past three years producers in the country have replaced old tree varieties with oil palm trees resistant to spear-rot disease. This year these new trees are coming into production and palm oil output for the country is forecast to be 1.5 million tons for 2014 – up from 1.04 million tons for last year according to Oil World. This boost in production will likely translate into increased exports which are forecast to jump 30% to 240,000 tons. Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producer, exported 8.37 million tons of palm oil between January and May of this year – 6.6% less than for the same time period last year, but still remaining the second highest on record as domestic demand from the biodiesel industry did not materialize as expected. To read further about the effects of Typhoon Rammasun on coconut oil production in Indonesia and the Philippines:
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