Palm Oil History
Palm oil with scientific name Elaeis guineensis originated
from West Africa. It
originally grows along the rivers bank and later on land cleared by humans for
long-fallow cultivation. It was believed that it have been use as a staple food
crop dated back to 3000 years BC as it was found in the Egyptian tombs which
reflect the high societal value of the palm oil. With the origins in West Africa and evidence
of consumption in Egypt, palm oil could be one of the earliest traded
commodities.
Palm
oil uses in international trading had only expanded significantly during the
British Industrial Revolution. The main uses of Palm oil during that time was
in candle production and industrial lubricants. With the increase demand,
Europeans started to invest in palm oil plantation in West Africa followed by
South East Asia. Between 1962 and 1982, world exports of palm oil rose from
about 500,000 to 2,400,000 million tonnes per annum, and Malaysia emerged as
the world’s largest producer, accounting for 56 percent of world production and
85 percent of world exports of palm oil in 1982. By 1990, world production had
reached nearly 11,000,000 tonnes per annum, with a worldwide trade of 8,500,000
tonnes. Indonesia had surpassing Malaysia in year 2006 to become world’s
largest palm oil producer and expected to produce more than 30 million tonnes
per annum in year 2013. As on year 2013, total world’s palm oil production
expected to more than 60 million tonnes per annum with 50 million tonnes coming
from Malaysia and Indonesia.
