Palm Oil Market - Cargill Launches Drones To Malaysian Palm Oil Plantations

Source: Cargill Inc.

Earlier this year, Cargill Inc. published its "Cargill Palm Oil Progress Update" report that revealed a plan to enhance land monitoring in Malaysia, the world's second-biggest palm oil grower. In order to provide immediate action to concerns such as burning of land or theft, the company decided to launch Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or drones, to monitor its palm oil plantations.

Constantly mapping and monitoring the land that needs to be protected, drones will enable Cargill Inc. to better achieve its sustainability goals, such as raising its sustainable oil supply to X% by 2020.

Although satellites are commonly used for tracking purposes, the UAV technology has proven to be more effective. While satellites are limited in terms of time and breadth, drones can be launched at any time, cost less and are not affected by clouds.

Drones, supplemented by on-the-ground remote monitoring devices, will make it possible for growers to monitor their plantations more accurately and achieve greater yields, while dealing with sustainability issues.

Palm oil, on the whole, is a widely spread product in the food industry and is a common cooking ingredient. Recently, a great number of illegal plantations have popped up, causing deforestations in many regions of Asia. As a result, palm oil plantations have been subject to fierce criticism, due to their profound impact on the environment.

Cargill Inc. strives to adhere to the policy of sustainability in its palm oil business, and its new palm oil plantation Poliplant Group in West Kalimantan of Malaysia is a promising venture, expected to meet the increasing demand for a sustainable and traceable product.

In 2014, Malaysia took the second spot in the palm oil trade, exporting X million tonnes of palm oil totaling X million USD, X% under the previous year. Its primary trading partner on the global palm oil market was India, where it supplied X% of its total palm oil exports in value terms, accounting for X% of India's total imports.

From 2007 to 2014, Malaysia was a net exporter of palm oil. Over this period, exports consistently exceeded imports in value terms. In physical terms, however, imports and exports were at the same level.

Indonesia and the Netherlands were among the other main global suppliers of palm oil in 2014. However, the fastest growing exporters from 2007 to 2014 were Guatemala (+X% per year) and Côte d'Ivoire (+X% per year). Still, it was Indonesia that significantly strengthened its position in the global export structure.

In addition to India, Malaysia's top X trading partners were China, the Netherlands, Pakistan and Viet Nam, with a combined X% share of Malaysia's palm oil exports. The share of India increased sharply (+X percentage points), while the share of China illustrated negative dynamics (-X percentage points).

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Source: IndexBox Platform