Indonesia Dominates World's Palm Oil

London (Antara Bali) - Growing demand for Indonesia's palm oil and its domination of the world market was an attracting topic in a conference held at the Indonesian Consulate General in Hamburg, Germany, on Saturday.

Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Council Derom Bangun told more than 100 delegates to the conference that palm oil is gaining domination from soybean oil and competes with other vegetable oils such as canola oil and sunflower oil.

Indonesia is currently the world's largest producer of palm oil and therefore, any issue related to the commodity would be important for the country, Bangun said in the the Oil World Outlook Conference, organized by ISTA Mielke GmbH (Oil World), a company operating in data analysis and information about world market of edible oils.

Bangun spoke about latest information about development of palm oil industry in Indonesia to counter many negative issues about the industry notable in Europe, Minister Counselor at the Consulate General Andi D. Yudyachandra said.

Bangun said palm oil industry provides livelihood for millions of Indonesian farmers, adding 42 percent of 9.1 million hectares of oil palm plantations in the country are owned by smallholders.

He denied accusations that Indonesia has destroyed its tropical forests to provide space for oil palm plantations.

The government has issued regulation to protect the environment including the forests such as by zero burning regulation in opening new plantations. (*/M038)