RI palm oil output to rise to 4.5m tons

RI palm oil output to rise to 4.5m tons

MANILA (Reuter): Indonesia's palm oil production for 1995 is seen rising 9.7 percent to 4.5 million tons from 4.1 million tons in 1994, an official of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) said here yesterday.

GAPKI Vice-Chairman Derom Bangun told Reuters an expansion of palm acreage and higher yields from maturing plants will boost production in 1996 to about 4.9 million tons.

Indonesia is the second largest producer of palm oil, behind Malaysia, whose production this year is seen hitting 7.85 million tons. The acreage planted to palm trees in Indonesia rose to 2.0 million tons this year from around 1.8 million tons in 1994, Bangun said.

"Some of the trees are less than three years old and as they mature, production should also increase," he said.

Bangun was in Manila to attend a meeting of the ASEAN Vegetable Oils Club, an organization lining Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the world's leading producer of palm oil while the Philippines is the leading producer of coconut products.