EDITOR'S COMMENT
OILS & FATS INTERNATIONAL
VOL 38 NO 4 MAY 2022
EDITORIAL: Editor: Serena Lim serenalim@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855066 Assistant Editor: Gill Langham gilllangham@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855157 SALES: Sales Manager: Mark Winthrop-Wallace markww@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855114 Sales Consultant: Anita Revis anitarevis@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855068 PRODUCTION: Production Editor: Carol Baird carolbaird@quartzltd.com CORPORATE: Managing Director: Tony Crinion tonycrinion@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855164 SUBSCRIPTIONS: Jack Homewood subscriptions@quartzltd.com +44 (0)1737 855028 Subscriptions, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 1QX, UK © 2022, Quartz Business Media ISSN 0267-8853 WWW.OFIMAGAZINE.COM
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Comeback for palm? With no end in sight in the Russia-Ukraine war, the world and our own oils and fats market are getting to grips with the impact of this tragic conflict between the two sunflower oil giants. Outside of the suffering and death of people in Ukraine, there are now everyday examples of what a shortage of sunflower oil might mean. In the UK, several supermarkets including Iceland, Waitrose and Morrisons are rationing sunflower oil to one or two bottles per customer, with an accompanying price rise. There have also been reports that half of the country’s 10,000 fish and chip shops could go out of business due to expensive deep frying oil and a 35% tariff on Russian fish imports. With the vast majority of the UK’s sunflower oil sourced from Ukraine and Russia – which together account for around 80% of global sunflower oil exports – industry sources have predicted they could run out in a matter of weeks. Some food companies will be turning to palm and soyabean oil as alternatives, to the fear of environmentalists, who have blamed both for deforestation in Southeast Asia and the Amazon, respectively. In the UK, Iceland – which removed palm oil from its own label brands in 2018 – is temporarily returning to using palm oil (see page 7). The alternative would be “simply to clear our freezers and shelves of a wide range of staples”, Iceland managing director Richard Walker says. Specifically in frying and snack food production, manufacturers could switch to palm olein if supplies of high oleic sunflower oil are curtailed or become too expensive. While regular sunflower oil is relatively high in polyunsaturated (PUFA) linoleic acid, which makes it unsuitable for commercial frying since it oxidises rapidly, high oleic sunflower oil has a lower PUFA content but nearly 80% monounsaturated oleic acid, ideal for high temperature frying. “So strangely, while the Russia-Ukraine conflict has spun the world into turmoil, negatively impacted petroleum, gas and even sunflower oil supply chains, the solution for the edible oil sector may lie in a reverse to the old ways through adoption of various palm oil/palm olein applications,” Dr Kalyana Sundram, a consultant for the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries, wrote in a 7 March blog. “Market forces, particularly in the Asia and Middle East regions, are already signalling this makeover.” In Europe, which is heavily dependant on Ukrainian sunflower oil imports but also drafting a deforestation regulation, it remains to be seen how long its stocks of sunflower oil and reputation concerns can hold out. For exporters of both grain and oilseeds in Ukraine, the most pressing issue is getting their stocks out. With the 24 February invasion cutting off access to the country’s Black Sea and Azov Sea ports, most flow is now going via rail or the Danube River ports of Reni and Izmail. There are some 1.25M tonnes of grains and oilseeds stranded on 57 blocked ships in Ukrainian ports that may be at risk of spoilage, farm minister Mykoa Solskyi has said (see p4). And while rail shipments are improving, they are still only at half their potential. The war in Ukraine needs to end for the people in Ukraine and for the sake of global food security. However, how this can be achieved is still uncertain.
@oilsandfatsint
Oils & Fats International
Serena Lim – serenalim@quartzltd.com 2 OFI – MAY 2022
Comment May 2022.indd 1
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27/04/2022 09:03:27
