22/10/2012
MALAYSIA PALM OIL SEEKING to COMMAD TURKEY'S IMPORT OIL SECTOR
As an importer of thousands of tons of edible oil, Turkey is a market full of opportunities for international sellers with its population of close to 80 million people.
Malaysia’s palm oil producers are looking to make a name for themselves and see the stakes are high in Turkey. The country’s producers have made it their mission to not only become Turkey’s number one palm oil exporter, but also the top edible oil exporter to the country.
The biggest players in the Malaysian palm oil sector came together under the umbrella of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and established themselves in Turkey four years ago with the opening of an office in İstanbul, from where they now also manage markets in 13 other countries.
MPOC, a council established to increase the market share of palm oil in the edible oil sector, is running the office to establish business ties between Malaysian companies and local buyers and producers of goods containing palm oil.
Turkey has already been using palm oil in its food and other sectors, including cosmetics. In the first eight months of this year, Turkey imported 70,000 tons of palm oil from Malaysia, 80 percent of which was for margarine production, while last year Turkey’s imports from the country amounted to 105,000 tons.
Turkey imports close to 500,000 tons of palm oil annually, mainly from Malaysia and Indonesia. Malaysian company Felda-Iffco has opened a plant in İzmir, a major transportation and trade hub on the Mediterranean coast in Turkey. The facility is mixing palm oil with food products sent to them by Turkish firms. Four Turkish companies, including Ülker and Orkide, use palm oil in their products. They have their products mixed with the palm oil in this facility and then ship the products to Romania, a major palm oil consumer in Europe.
MPOC CEO Yusof Basiron believes that once their liquid palm cooking oil is introduced to Turkish kitchens, many will start using it. “Turkey is a big market for us. That’s why we opened an office there,” he told a group of reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Recalling that Turkey is not self-sufficient in oil production, Basiron said as MPOC promotes and makes the public aware of palm oil, it will attract customers in Turkey. “Turkey will import oil anyways. Not all Turks can afford olive oil. The best oil to import is palm oil,” he noted, citing the oil’s low price, nutritional value and neutral taste as reasons for why people would prefer it.
Basiron said the palm oil is the most popular cooking oil in the world, even more commonly used than soybean oil.
Anti-palm oil sentiments
However, MPOC is taking over a hard job. Like the West, Turkey also has negative feelings towards palm oil. The debates focus on two areas: health and environment. It is argued that palm oil is bad for human health. Counter claims from palm oil business say the anti-palm oil sentiment does not have any scientific basis and in fact palm oil is as healthy as olive oil. MPOC officials have been conducting research on palm oil in cooperation with international universities and have shared it with the public. In a presentation during an MPOC seminar last week in Kuala Lumpur, MPOC Science and Environment Director Kalyana Sundram showed in charts that palm oil is no different than olive oil, known as the highest quality oil for health, when it comes to affecting both good and bad cholesterol.
Basiron claims the negative reputation palm oil has earned is due to an anti-palm oil campaign, which has been waged by the American Soybean Association (ASA) because the palm oil and soybean oil industries are major rivals in the edible oil sector. Despite that, he said, the US is importing over 1 million tons of palm oil annually for margarine, while it was importing 200,000 tons 10 years ago. The negativity surrounding palm oil is now spreading in Europe, including to Turkey, according to Basiron.
Representatives of the Malaysian palm oil industry agree with the MPOC head, saying the industry is in a communications battle now, rather than a technical one.
In remarks to Turkish journalists during the Malaysian Palm Oil Trade Fair in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok also said people in his country have been consuming the oil for a long time. “Look at us, do we look unhealthy?” he said in answer to a question addressing the health woes associated with palm oil consumption.
Environmental issue
Yet there is one commonly known fact that cannot be changed: the destruction of rainforests in order to create open fields for oil farm plantations. The palm oil industry in Indonesia and Malaysia has been drawing the ire of environmentalists due to such actions.
In response to environmental concerns, MPOC Chairman Basiron said, “Members of the industry are dedicated to the protection and preservation of the environment and the conservation of animals in their natural habitats,” adding that the palm oil industry is making an effort to ensure that ecosystems are protected. Fifty-six percent of total land in Malaysia, 18.5 million hectares, is forested.
To respond to massive international criticism, the MPOC established the Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund (MPOWCF) in 2006.
