In terms of exports, according to the National Statistics Department (Dane) export report for April 2022, foreign sales of agricultural products, food and beverages totaled US$1,048 million and presented a growth of 34.7%, compared to April 2021. This behavior was mainly explained by the increase in exports of palm oil and its fractions (180.6%), which contributed 10.7 percentage points to the variation of the group.
(The oil war: price increase in Latin America and the world).
For the president of Fedepalma, Nicolás Pérez, “2021 was a historic year for palm since we closed with a record production of 1.75 million tons of crude palm oil. 70% was sold in the local market and 30% was exported, which is equivalent to at least 600,000 tons of oil, with a value of US$600 million,” assured the president.
Regarding the annual historical evolution of exports of oils and fats in volume of tons presented by the federation from 2017 to today, ups and downs over the years.
(Facts that keep food prices near their record).
By 2017, the annual export of oil palm products reached 718 thousand tons. Compared to 2018, there was an increase of 884 thousand tons exported. However, for 2019 there was a downward trend with 858 thousand tons sold abroad. For 2020, exports fell again to 844 thousand, but 2021 represented the lowest number of tons in the five-year framework with 641 thousand tons.
In the first quarter of 2022, according to the Price Stabilization Fund (FEP palmero), “sales to the export market were 88 thousand tons in March 2022, accumulating a total of 198 thousand tons in the first quarter of 2022 and showing an increase of 36% compared to the same quarter of 2021”.
According to the federation main destinations were Brazil (16.2%), Ecuador (14.6), Italy (11.2%), Spain (10.9%), Mexico (9.7%), the Netherlands (9.4%), the Dominican Republic (5.3%) and Venezuela (3.7%).
TASK
During the 50th National Congress of Oil Palm Growers 2022, held in Bucaramanga, Fedepalma presented results and sustainable proposals for the production of palm oil in Colombia.
According to Juan Fernando Lezaca, director of institutional affairs at Fedepalma, the objective of the event is to help palm growers in terms of productivity, understanding of European markets, sustainability and consumer trends.
THE SUSTAINABLE PALM
Faced with the environmental crisis, generated among others by deforestation, the concern is global because The main palm producing countries in the world, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, face serious cases of deforestation.
According to Andrés García, director of Sectoral Planning and Sustainable Development of Fedepalma, in Colombia, regarding the measurements carried out by Ideam, the palm sector was responsible for less than 0.5% of the total deforestation in the country between 2011 and 2017 and It has remained.
DIANA K. RODRIGUEZ T.
BRIEFCASE
