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TRANSPORT/USA
Palm oil import logistics US imports of palm oil have grown in the past decade, with the East Coast ports of New Orleans and Savannah handling the most shipments Zainuddin Hassan, Nur Adibah
The USA is a leading global market for edible oils, consuming nearly 16M tonnes of vegetable oils in 2019, according to data from Statista. Soyabean oil was, by far, the main oil consumed at 10.66M tonnes that year, followed by 2.465M tonnes of canola oil and 1.518 tonnes of palm oil. The future of the US vegetable oils industry is projected to be optimistic as there is growing usage in food applications. Demand from the bakery, food service and food processing sectors are expected to spur growth of the vegetable oils market in coming years. Furthermore, increasing utilisation of vegetable oils, such as palm oil, in non-food uses is projected to aid market growth.
Palm oil in the USA
Over the past decade, consumption of edible oils and fats, including palm oil, has undergone considerable change in the USA. Several factors, including consumer awareness of nutrition and health attributes of various oils and fats, dietary 30 OFI – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
US logistics updated with links.indd 2
guidelines, and legislation in the form of nutrition labelling of saturated and trans fatty acids have helped shape consumption patterns in the USA. According to the earliest recorded data published by the research group IndexMundi, palm oil gained access into the US market from 1965. Import volumes have grown steadily over the years and recorded a huge increase between 2002 and 2008. In 2019, US palm oil imports reached 1.58M tonnes (see Figure 1, p32). Data released by the US Census Bureau showed that US palm oil imports from January-December 2018 amounted to US$1.09bn compared with US$1.05bn in 2017. The top three palm oil exporters were Indonesia, Malaysia and Colombia. Indonesia accounted for 60% of total US palm oil imports (1.43M tonnes) from January-November 2019 and Malaysia accounted for 38%, according to trade data from the US Census Bureau. Based on the data published by Statista, US consumption of palm oil totalled 1.48M tonnes in 2019 (see Figure 2, p32). u Competitive palm oil prices and the
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26/10/2020 10:48:37
