Malaysia to flood Nigeria with palm oil from Ghana

SUCCOUR has come the way of users of palm oil in Nigeria. Malaysia, the country, which took the oil palm seeds away from Nigeria several years ago, is planning to flood the market from its silos in Ghana.

Besides, some 5,000 metric tonnes of the commodity have arrived at the Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited in the Apapa Port Complex, Lagos.

It was learnt that the commodity was ferried to the terminal a few weeks ago.

The arrival of the MV Cavally vessel came on the heels of reports that Malaysia, the world’s second largest producer of palm oil, had concluded plans to build silos on Tema Beach, Ghana.

The move, it was learnt, was to further improve its export to the Nigerian market with barrels of palm oil, the shortage of which has hit the country.

Malaysia remains the world’s second-largest exporter of palm oil after Indonesia. The two countries account for 85 percent of global production of palm oil.

Trailing China and India, Malaysia ranked as the world’s top producer and exporter of palm oil, generating fifty per cent of the global output, of which 85 per cent is exported.

Within the African continent, Nigeria has more extensive oil palm plantations of about 350,000 hectares, but they are not enough for local consumption.

Both Nigeria and Malaysia are said to have reached an agreement that would allow the Asian country to invest in the former’s palm oil sector.

The Malaysian palm oil, exported to more than 150 countries worldwide, with China as its biggest market, is used extensively across the globe for biofuel, processed food and toiletries, among other bi-products.

It was revealed last week that investors looking for higher returns have jumped into the market, while countries, such as China have locked up African land, not just for food, but for biofuel production.

Altogether, close to 20 countries have leased tens of millions of acres of land in Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR), among other African countries, agricultural experts said.

Last year alone, palm oil exports by Malaysia amounted to $15 billion

However, fishermen in Ghana have registered their protest against the move to help Nigeria, saying it would erase 25,000 jobs.

Inhabitants of the town said the silos would employ 1,000 unskilled youths.

Currently, the bulk of the palm oil being consumed locally in Nigeria are imported from the Malaysian and Liberia.

Major palm oil firms are also longing to come to Nigeria and other West African countries to establish plantations for the same purpose.

The Equatorial Palm Oil was reported to have established a huge land bank for development in Liberia, and has raised funds to re-activate the existing plantations and begin expansion.

Liberia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Bernard Dompok, explained that the industry has forecast output to increase to 18.1 million tonnes this year, up from 17.5 million tonnes last year, due to a slight increase in palm oil acreage.