Africa's largest development of palm oil. "Bad fat gold": European importers of palm oil send it to Russia. Who is for quotas: Belarus will “help” us

Palm oil accounts for 38% of the world's vegetable oil consumption. It is one of the most common and traded products in the herbal ingredients segment, according to WWF. In Russia, palm oil is often the subject of negative headlines as government regulators and various organizations posing as them try to find palm oil in milk and cottage cheese. Journalists conduct investigations and publish shocking facts that dairy products with vegetable fats provoke terrible diseases, although there is no scientific evidence of these frightening facts. In the minds of consumers, milk and palm oil have already blended into one, although plant-based ingredients can be found in almost every item around us, from lip balm to cookies. Milknews figured out the issue of using palm oil in more detail.

Where does palm oil come from?

Every year, the main palm oil producing countries - Indonesia and Malaysia - produce 63 million tons of palm and palm kernel oil, most of which, about 42 million tons, is exported to 70 countries around the world. Ingredient production has doubled over the past 10 years and will increase by the same amount until 2020, WWF predicts. 42% of the oil produced is distributed among three countries: India, Indonesia and China. About 10% of the received volume goes to Europe.

Palm plantations, Indonesia, WWF

About 20 million hectares of land are occupied by plantations, with each acre producing 3.3 tons of oil per year, which is more than the yield of any other vegetable oil. The manufacturing industry employs more than 5 million people, according to WWF. This is an industry of national importance for the economy of Indonesia and Malaysia. Palm oil accounts for 11% of Malaysian exports.

Major producers of palm oil

Palm oil is widely used in various industries, this is due to its quality characteristics: at room temperature, it retains relative hardness, while it is easy to heat treat and melt. It is cheaper than any of the available animal fats and is widely available on the market, unlike other plant-based counterparts.

Where does it go?

According to WWF, 68% of palm oil is used for the needs of the food industry, 27% - for the production of household goods and cosmetics, 5% - for biofuels. According to the Palm Oil Investigation, 50% of the products in the consumer basket contain palm oil. The oil is not only suitable for food production, it is fatty, so it is used for the production of cosmetics with the appropriate texture, such as lip balms and shampoos. It moisturizes and softens, so it is ideal for creams. At the same time, it does not need to be further processed in order to achieve the desired structure, such as rapeseed or sunflower oil. Palm oil is found in household cleansers, soaps, candles, biofuels for cars, ships and aircraft, pet food and farm animals.

If you look at the labels of many of these products, there is no direct mention of palm oil. This is due to an active campaign against the ingredient in the media. Up to 200 alternative names for palm oil can be found on the foundation's website.

Palm oil is bought by all well-known international companies. The top ten purchases of “palms” look like this:

McDonald's - MT 0.10 million

Rechitt Benchiser - 0.10 million MT

CSM - 0.11 million MT

Ferrero - 0.15 million MT

Mondelez - 0.29 million MT

Nestle - 0.41 million MT

Pepsico - 0.46 million MT

P&G - 0.53 million MT

Ruchi - 1.43 million MT

Unilever - 1.52 million MT

There is a rather powerful anti-lobby for palm oil, these are public foundations and environmentalist movements, which allege the connection between the production of the product using illegal labor and the violation of local ecosystems. Public funds, WWF and Greenpeace, together with major palm oil importers, are working to ensure that production is transparent. Some companies, such as Unilever and Nestle, have made public announcements that they are buying traceable palm oil. France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy have promised that by 2020 the volume of "clear" oil purchased by local processors will reach 100%.

And what about in Russia?

In Russia, the average annual import of palm oil is 800-900 thousand tons. About 80% are Indonesian imports, the rest is imported from Malaysia and the Netherlands. According to the Oil and Fat Union of Russia, in 2016, imports of palm oil and its fractions amounted to 862 thousand tons, in 2017 - 879 thousand tons, exactly the same as in 2015. “The difference is small, but it rather indicates the restoration of production, primarily of confectionery products in Russia, in general, the palm oil market is stable, we do not see any prerequisites for a sharp increase or decrease in its volumes,” the press service commented on the statistics. Oil and fat union.

The executive director of Soyuzmoloko Artem Belov agrees with the stable dynamics of palm oil imports. According to him, an explosive increase in the supply of palm oil to Russia should not be expected, since this market is quite stable and it has its main consumer.

According to data for January-February 2018, the Russian Federation purchased 170 thousand tons of the product, which is 36.7% more than last year. Artem Belov earlier that the indicators of several months do not indicate an increase in the volume of the general annual purchase. “The dynamics of the increase in imports must be assessed not by months, but in annual terms, and I think that the average figure of previous years will remain,” he said.

The Fat and Oil Union of Russia also agrees with Belov's opinion. “As for the latest data from Rosstat on the increase in imports of palm oil and its fractions to Russia in January-February 2018 (compared to the same period in 2017), then if you do not just compare two figures, but fully analyze the statistics, then there will be no sensation ", the experts said. Last year, according to the union, the average monthly import was 74.4 thousand tons. In January 2018, imports were below this figure, in February - slightly higher. “If we translate the figures into production processes, in February two more ships could call at the ports, which could be delayed in January, in other words, these are natural monthly fluctuations, and on a production scale, the volumes are definitely not the same as to announce serious changes in the market” , - noted in the press service of the Oil and Fat Union.

Imports of palm oil in 2018 will not increase as long as there are no such prerequisites. Domestic demand has been formed, and without any additional factors it will remain at the same level, the Oil and Fat Union noted.

Where is it used in Russia?

According to representatives of the association, almost all palm oil imported to Russia is used by the oil and fat industry, and further fats and margarines based on vegetable oils are in demand in the most capacious sectors of the food industry: confectionery, baking, dairy, ice cream, fast food, snacks, HoReCa. “Almost half of all produced fats and margarines go to the confectionery industry, part of the raw palm oil is used in non-food industrial processing: for the production of soap, perfumes and cosmetics, and for use in the paint and varnish industry,” the union noted. The share of palm oil used for the production of milk-containing products does not exceed 15% of total imports, Soyuzmoloko said.

Palm oil is not the most popular vegetable oil on the Russian market. Sunflower oil is the leader in the segment, last year it was produced in the amount of 4.7 million tons, of which 1.8 million tons were exported, and 2.9 million tons remained in the country for domestic needs.

According to the press service of the Oil and Fat Union of Russia, tropical oils are used mainly in the B2B market, in those sectors where a semi-solid fat fraction is technologically required. “In the production of margarines and special fats, tropical oils make it possible to comply with the requirements for limiting the content of trans fats - up to 2%, sunflower oil does not always give such results,” the union said.

The union noted that palm oil is an important component in the production of oil and fat products in all countries of the world, including our country. At the same time, according to representatives of the union, Russia will never be the leader in the consumption of palm oil, but we will not be able to replace it with other oils. There are simply no analogues to this type of vegetable oil.

Palm oil is a product with a scandalous reputation. It is often used in the food industry to reduce the cost of production. They replace milk fat. There is a lot of talk in the media and on the Internet that it is unhealthy. This issue was brought up for broad discussion last year during a direct line with President Vladimir Putin.

Palm oil is several times cheaper than milk, which is why Russian producers of mayonnaise, processed cheese, margarine and dozens of other products prefer it. This allows them to cut costs, but - alas - comes at the expense of the well-being of ordinary Russians.


Even if we assume that palm oil is harmless (this point of view is in relation to high-quality varieties), it is definitely inferior to milk fat in terms of nutritional and taste properties. Let's discuss the current situation with the import of palm oil to Russia.
Watch the video of the Economy program on the Crimea-24 TV channel

Release archive.
I'll start with international comparisons. While preparing for this show, I found it titled Cars and Trucks Burn Half of the Palm Oil Used in Europe. It's a fairly common practice there.

A third of this type of oil is used for food production (just like ours, in order to reduce the cost of their production). A very small share goes to the preparation of livestock feed, as well as cosmetics, creams, and hair care products. Everything else is used as biodiesel for engine operation, and as an energy carrier for space heating and electricity generation.


By the way, palm oil is not the only and not the most important type of biodiesel fuel. For the operation of motors, the most demanded is rapeseed oil. Sunflower and soy are also used.


Let's turn to the part of palm oil that is eaten in Europe. Last year it was 2 million 900 thousand tons . With a population of half a billion in the EU, this is almost 6 kilograms per year per 1 European. Compare with Russian indicators. Russia imported last year 885 thousand tons palm oil.


In our country, alternative energy has not yet received rapid development, as in Europe. Therefore, conditionally, with a stretch, we will accept that all imported palm oil went into the food industry. How much does it come out per year for 1 Russian? Surprisingly, the numbers are similar. Approximately 6 kilograms per person per year, both in Europe and in our country. We have a little more, they have a little less, but the scale of penetration of this milk replacer on our shelves is about the same. Tellingly, in Europe this phenomenon is on the decline. The EU is smoothly recovering from palm addiction.




Let's look at US palm oil consumption. This is also data purely for the food industry.


As you can see, in recent years there has been a sharp jump from insignificant levels to quite large ones, and the dynamics is clearly upward. Manufacturers who like to replace milk fats with vegetable fats are clearly liking it. So far, there is not much per capita, just over 3 kilograms per person per year. This is 2 times less than in Europe and Russia, but the growth rate is impressive. As if at the beginning of the 2000s, some floodgates opened, and the American food industry was flooded with flows of this cheap product.
In India, by the way, the situation is similar. There is also a palm boom. The graph shows growth from zero values ​​to space. Now it is already 7 kilograms per person per year, that is, higher than in Europe and Russia.


According to the latest data from Rosstat in Russia this year, palm oil imports began to decline. Prior to that, he showed growth for two years. From January to September, the drop was 5,6% . There are several reasons for this.
First. Prices for sunflower oil have fallen in Russia. On average in the country, it has fallen in price by 10%.


Its competitiveness has increased, and it began to displace the palm. The food industry, which requires vegetable fats, began to switch from exotic palm to native sunflower.
The second reason is the activities of Rospotrebnadzor. He seriously tightened control over falsification of products. Attempts to hide the content of palm oil in the product has become much less. At the same time, food supplies to social institutions have been and remain under the special supervision of Rospotrebnadzor.

Third reason: public attention. After a direct line with the President, all citizens of the country learned about this problem. Many did not pay attention to the labels before, but now they began to track what they buy and refuse products that contain palm oil.
Fourth reason- marking. Starting from 2018, milk and dairy products producers will be required to indicate on the packaging in contrastingly large print that it contains palm oil. Therefore, some factories are already refusing this ingredient in order not to have problems with sales in the future.
And finally, the fifth reason is world prices.


From 2010 to 2015, they fell, which increased the attractiveness of this product. But over the past year, prices have shown a slight increase. This was enough for the use of palm oil in Russia to begin to decline.

We will not discuss whether palm oil is beneficial for the body or harmful, since we have an economic program.


But for foreign trade, the benefits of abandoning it are quite obvious. Producing food from domestic ingredients is another step towards import substitution. Therefore, I hope our food industry will use this dubious product less and less. It is in our power to speed this up by carefully checking what is written on the labels.

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Palm change. Can Russia do without the tropics?

The introduction of quotas for the import of tropical oils to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, which has recently been actively discussed in the media, according to a number of players in the domestic dairy market, is designed to support Russian producers. Meanwhile, the demand for tropical oils as one of the essential ingredients for the production of confectionery, bakery and milk-containing products, both worldwide and in Russia, is only growing. About what restrictive measures on the import of the tropics are fraught with for the Russian industry, what will happen if they are adopted with the Russian food industry, and also about how all this will affect Russian consumers - in the next reviewoil world.en

Myths and reality: they are talking about the tropics

There are many myths and legends around tropical oils, but the reality is much more prosaic. Tropical oils - palm, palm kernel, coconut oils - are common natural vegetable oils that began to be eaten as early as 5000 years ago.

Due to high yields, low cost of raw materials, and most importantly - special quality characteristics that allow the use of tropical oils in various sectors of the food and non-food industries, they are widely used throughout the world.

So, if in the 2016/2017 season the world consumption of tropical oils was 72.2 million tons, then by the 2017/2018 season it increased by almost 3.4 million tons to 75.6 million and, according to experts, will continue to grow farther. Among the main consumers of tropical oils are countries where palm oil is a traditional part of the diets of the inhabitants of these regions: Indonesia (12.2 million tons), Malaysia (4.7 million tons), Pakistan (3.1 million tons), Thailand (2 .8 million tons), Egypt (1.3 million tons), as well as countries with developed economies and a high level of production development, which import tropical oils for further deep processing, primarily in the food industry. Among them are the EU (7.7 million tons) and the USA (2.4 million tons), as well as India (11.3 million tons) and China (5.5 million tons), which in general have been the locomotive of development in recent years. economies for the whole world.

On average, Russia imports about 900 thousand tons per year and takes only 15th place in the world ranking of exporters. If we consider the per capita food consumption of tropical oils in the 2017/18 season, then Russia ranks 44th in the world, noticeably behind Japan and the EU countries. -

View from a palm tree: higher quality, more benefits, exports are growing

Among tropical oils, palm oil is the most famous and widespread, and this is not surprising. From one hectare of land, a palm tree provides four times more raw materials than sunflower, soybeans or corn. In addition, unlike other oilseeds, palm oil is produced year-round, which is more economical than seasonal processing and storage of other crops.

At the same time, the special popularity of palm oil in the food industry is due to its unique properties.

“Palm oil is a rare case of vegetable fat with a semi-solid consistency, which allows it to be used in food production where solid fats are required,” says Vladimir Bessonov, head of the food chemistry laboratory of the FGBUN “Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Biotechnology and Food Safety”.

Experts from the scientific community also confirm that palm oil is a unique ingredient for the production of healthy food. Palm oil has a balanced composition of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (50%/50%) and is resistant to oxidation. In addition, according to d.m.s. Oleg Medvedev, director of the Healthy Nutrition Research Center, palm oil, unlike butter, does not contain cholesterol, does not require hydrogenation and is one of the best substitutes for dangerous trans fats. Viktor Tutelyan, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and scientific director of the Federal Research Center for Nutrition and Biotechnology, adds that due to the presence of a large amount of palmitic acid (up to 45%), which is present in breast milk and is very beneficial for children, the oleic fraction of palm oil is a valuable ingredient for the production baby food.

In terms of its technological advantages and quality characteristics, palm oil has been the most popular vegetable oil in the world for several decades and is especially in demand in the most intensive sectors of the food industry: confectionery, bakery, dairy, ice cream, instant food, snacks, HoReCa.

According to Soyuzmoloko, almost half of all produced fats and margarines go to the confectionery industry, part of the crude palm oil is used in non-food industrial processing: for the production of soap, perfumery and cosmetics, and use in the paint and varnish industry. The share of palm oil, which is used for the production of milk-containing products, does not exceed 15% of total imports.

For the preparation of confectionery products, solid butter is needed, and there is practically no alternative to palm oil according to technology: margarine is more expensive and more harmful, since various additives are put into it to make it hard, butter is five times more expensive and has a specific taste that is not suitable for regular use. , - says the general director of the confectionery factory "Lubimiy Krai" Dmitry Baikov.

At the same time, oils produced in Russia (sunflower, rapeseed, camelina) do not have the necessary quality characteristics to replace palm oil ingredients in the recipe. “Replacing tropical oils with sunflower oil will affect the loss of quality and presentation, as well as reducing the shelf life of finished products,” says Elizaveta Nikitina, director of the Center for Confectionery Market Research.

Alena Surkova, director of the confectionery industry of the oil and fat division of EFKO Group of Companies, recalls that all over the world, including Russia, palm oil as one of the raw ingredients is actively used for the production of high-quality confectionery products, and our country has much to offer in this regard. be proud. “According to our assessment, the confectionery market in Russia is formed and saturated. Domestic enterprises were able to replace imports of confectionery products from Ukraine, and large volumes of export speak of the quality of Russian confectionery products. It is possible to produce such high-quality sweets only using high-quality specialized fats and margarines. Until recently, Russia imported such fats, now only raw materials for their production are imported, and Russian technologists have been able to master high technologies and independently solve import substitution issues in this area,” Surkova notes.

Palm Dilemma

However, despite the position of experts on this issue, “at the household level” in Russia, the attitude of the end consumer to palm oil cannot be called unambiguous. Zainudin Jalil, head of the Malaysian Trade Mission in Russia, believes that this is due to the extremely low awareness of the Russian population about the quality of palm oil products and the technologies used in production.

Even the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia had to speak out on this topic. First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Russia Dzhambulat Khatuov within the framework of the International Fat and Oil Conference "Markets of Oilseeds and Their Derivatives - 2017: Records and Prospects" called for an end to the discrediting information campaign against vegetable oils and fats, which has unfolded in the Russian media in recent years.

“As for the import of palm oil ... and in general the production of products from vegetable oils, today everything is transparent and perfect with Russian producers. No need to stir up passions. It is necessary to close the issue of discrediting products based on vegetable oils once and for all,” he said.

However, discussions and populist initiatives regarding one or another ban on the use of palm oil in Russia continue to come to light on a regular basis.

Call for restriction: how the introduction of quotas for the tropics will change the market

Not so long ago, the question arose again about the possibility of introducing palm oil quotas in the EAEU. According to the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Agriculture Yevgeny Nepoklonov, the increase in its supplies seriously complicates the work of the dairy industry and makes “the products of bona fide producers uncompetitive”.

However, experts interviewed by the site indicate that such an initiative could lead to the opposite situation.

Ekaterina Nesterova, Executive Director of the Association of Producers and Consumers of Oil and Fat Products, believes that quotas for the tropics will only exacerbate the problem of the production and sale of counterfeit products. “It is impossible to solve the problem of counterfeiting by introducing unreasonable requirements for conscientious manufacturers. The social consequences of all this are not difficult to imagine - low-income consumers will generally be deprived of the opportunity to buy both dairy products and products that perform their function, ”Nesterova warns.

Obviously something else. The establishment of a quota for tropical oils will increase the cost of Russian specialized fats and margarines and finished products based on them. As a result, this will lead to a decrease in consumer demand, on the one hand, and make domestic products less competitive with respect to imported counterparts, on the other.

“Why do we currently have low imports of finished fat and oil products? We practically do not buy now either margarines or fats. Palm oil allows us to create competitive and safe food products. The selective introduction of quotas for tropical raw materials, but not for finished fats and margarines from the same palm oil, will flood the market with imported products,” Nesterova notes.

The letter sent by the Fat and Oil Union of Russia to Yevgeny Akhpashev, Director of the Department of Food and Processing Industry of the Ministry, notes that limiting the supply of palm oil to Russia is inexpedient and harmful not only for the fat and oil market, but also for the dairy market. “Milk-containing products are half made up of milk and its derivatives - this is about 3 million tons in current consumption. If the production of milk-containing products decreases, then the demand for raw milk will fall, and, consequently, the price of it,” the authors of the letter point out.

Tropical quotas could affect not only the dairy industry, but also Russia's booming confectionery industry, which, according to Elizaveta Nikitina, executive director of the Center for Confectionery Market Research, consumes nearly a third of food-grade palm oil imports. “The Russian confectionery industry is one of the most dynamically developing food markets in the country. The export of Russian sweets is growing at a double-digit pace - in the first quarter of 2018, sales growth amounted to almost + 16% (against the same period in 2017). And last year, confectionery worth $980 million was sold for export. This is perhaps the only type of ready-made food that Russia exports in such volumes,” Nikitina notes.

The general director of the Lyubimiy Krai confectionery factory, Dmitry Baikov, believes that if the use of palm oil becomes unprofitable due to the excise tax, manufacturers will switch to margarine from sunflower oil, which is more harmful and may affect the price increase for finished products.

Aleksey Udovenko, regional representative of the Malaysian Palm Council of Palm Oil Producers in Moscow, does not support the idea of ​​quoting the supply of tropical oils, who called this initiative "shooting himself in the foot." “At the beginning of the year, at the state level, they decided to limit trans fats, and in the middle of the year they began to discuss quotas for the supply of the only raw material that can replace these trans fats,” Udovenko said.

The expert believes that since it is proposed to set quotas at the level of 600 thousand tons, their introduction will lead to a shortage of tropical raw materials at the level of 300 thousand tons. A deficit of 30% will affect the ability to produce domestic products that would compete in quality and price with imported ones.

According to Udovenko, it is necessary to fight not with raw materials for the production of products, but to significantly increase the level of responsibility for counterfeiting for those who, using tropical oils as raw materials, produce counterfeit products that do not comply with the norms of the Technical Regulations.

Today in Russia there are many different organizations (Rosselkhoznadzor, Rospotrebnadzor, non-profit organization Roskachestvo), whose main task is to control the quality of finished products, so the measure with quotas, according to the expert community, is inappropriate.

Who is for quotas: Belarus will “help” us

In general, the story of the quota initiative resembles the situation in 2016 with the proposal to introduce an excise tax on palm oil, if not for one “but”. Then the president had to put an end to this issue. During a direct line with Vladimir Putin, one of the richest deputies of the Voronezh region (income for 2017 263 million rubles), introducing himself as an ordinary farmer, complained to the president that natural milk cannot withstand competition with palm oil, since the latter is several times cheaper, and proposed a ban on palm oil. The President had to remind that palm oil is not so harmful, and the introduction of an excise tax on it is fraught with an increase in food prices. On this topic with the excise duty was closed.

The story with quotas is only gaining momentum, and it is not Russia that initiated it, but the fraternal republic of Belarus. After all, it was Aleksey Bogdanov, head of the main department for foreign economic activity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus, who suggested that Russia initiate the introduction of quotas on the territory of the EAEU countries. “For my part, I appeal to my Russian colleagues with a proposal to move from words to deeds and initiate before the Eurasian Economic Commission the issue of restricting the import and circulation of palm oil,” Bogdanov said during the Milk Olympics. According to the Minsk official, the import of significant amounts of palm oil puts strong pressure on the dairy market of the Union countries.

At the same time, one of the sources in the Government notes that in this issue, obviously, we are talking about lobbying for an increase in the import of Belarusian products in Russia. As Aleksey Bogdanov noted, in the event of the closure of the Russian market, Belarusian manufacturers are now calmly and systematically working in the markets of third countries. However, Belarus is still the largest exporter of dairy and milk-containing products to the Russian Federation, which annually allows them to earn more than $3 billion on this market. Last year, the Republic's share in the Russian market was 86%.

At the same time, prices for Belarusian products are significantly lower than Russian ones, and Belarusian imports have a strong influence on prices within the country. Therefore, according to experts, the introduction of quotas for palm oil will make it possible to displace not only domestic milk-containing products from the market, but will also hit the Russian dairy industry as a whole.

In addition, one should not exclude the possibility of creating a transit zone through Belarus for imported specialized fats and margarines, as was the case with sanctioned products, when the tables of Russians were filled with “Belarusian” parmesan and pineapples.

In this regard, the most logical and effective measures to improve the situation on the Russian dairy market could be the import substitution of dairy products by limiting imports and loading domestic milk processing enterprises with domestic raw materials.

Eating palm oil leads to obesity and chronic diseases on a global scale, and its production causes irreparable damage to nature. These are the main conclusions of the report, prepared by experts from the World Health Organization, which should be published in the near future. Pavel Syutkin.

Considering that in 2015 the United States banned the use of hazardous trans fats in food products, and in 2018 WHO issued a similar recommendation for the whole world, the organization's experts fear that food manufacturers will simply replace banned ingredients with palm oil - cheap, but potentially no less harmful.

Scientists, policy makers and healthcare professionals around the world are advised to rethink their attitude towards palm oil in order to "reduce the negative impact of this industry on human and planetary health."

Palm oil occupies a leading position in the production of semi-finished products and finished products - mainly due to its relative cheapness.

Palm oil producers go to great lengths to convince consumers of its safety - or even health benefits. However, the WHO report, based on 48 scientific studies, refutes these claims.

In particular, a meta-analysis of works conducted by the experts of the organization showed a convincing relationship between the increase in palm oil consumption in 23 countries of the world - and the increase in the death rate from coronary heart disease there.

Research that proves the benefits of palm oil is often funded by palm oil producers. And the modest letters MPOC in the corner simply mean the Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

In addition, doctors have no doubt that palm oil systematically increases the blood levels of "bad cholesterol" (LNLP), which is the cause of atherosclerosis.

There are other studies linking palm oil consumption to an increased risk of heart disease, obesity, and other chronic diseases.

However, during the preparation of the document, it turned out that out of nine such published articles, four were written by employees of the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture - or rather, the department directly responsible for the development of this industry.

In particular, according to the authors of the report, lobbyists around the world are successfully resisting attempts to oblige palm oil producers to tell consumers that it is present in the finished product. It can be found on the ingredient list under any of about 200 alternative names - for example, simply "plant-derived fats."

In Russia, as well as throughout the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union, in 2018 the law on the new labeling of dairy products came into force. However, it only obliges manufacturers to indicate that the product "contains vegetable fats" - the mention of palm oil in the ingredients is still optional.

Even earlier, in February 2016, the Russian authorities were even going to introduce a special excise tax on palm oil. The Ministry of Economy called this measure "an obvious thing", but three months later the introduction of excises was abandoned - as the ministry said, "as a result of lengthy discussions."

SO MANY SONGS ABOUT PROPETO OIL…

Research agency "RBC.research"

Over the past 10 years, there has been a steady increase in the production of vegetable oil in the world. The values ​​of the average annual growth range from 0.8 to 8.6%, and the average increase in production volumes since 2000 is 4.8%. In 2012, the volume of world production of vegetable oil reached almost 160 million tons, while in 2001 the value of the same indicator was very close to 90 million tons. (rice. 1 ) .
The most popular types of vegetable oil in the world are palm and soybean oils - they account for 34 and 27.7% of world production in volume terms, respectively. (rice. 2 ) .

Rapeseed oil, which is not yet so popular in Russia, confidently ranks third in the world with a share of 15%. Sunflower oil, the most common in Russia and Ukraine, is only in fourth place in the structure of world production with a share of 8.7%.
Today, more than 40% of all vegetable oil produced in the world is exported. The high value of this indicator is a consequence of the fact that in producing countries there are different weather and climatic conditions for the cultivation of oilseeds. That is, in countries with a favorable climate, for example, in Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina, the volume of production of vegetable oil is much higher than the level of consumption, so most of the produced oil is exported. (rice. 3 ) .

In contrast, in countries with colder climates, such as Canada or the Nordic countries, oilseed cultivation is difficult, so imports account for a significant share of vegetable oil consumption.
Analyzing the structure of world export supplies by types of vegetable oil, it should be noted that the lion's share - 63.3% - falls on palm oil. In second place, by a significant margin, is soybean oil with a share of 13.9%. Sunflower oil, the main exporters of which are Russia and Ukraine, is in third place with a share of 8.6%.
On the other hand, the largest consumers of vegetable oil in the world are those countries in which their own production is not able to fully meet the demand for vegetable oil from the population and industry. First of all, these countries include India and China with a combined population of more than 2.5 billion people (respectively, 1.21 and 1.34 billion people). India accounts for 16.3% of all global vegetable oil imports and China for 15% (rice. 4 ) .

These countries are closely followed by the European Union with a share of 14.3%, where oil consumption per capita is significantly higher than in China or India. Also, a significant place in the world import of vegetable oil is occupied by such countries as the USA, Malaysia, Pakistan and Egypt - their shares are respectively 6.7, 4.5, 3.6 and 3.5%. In the structure of world imports of vegetable oil, Russia occupies only 1.2%.
Today, structural shifts in the consumption of vegetable oil are clearly visible in the world. So, in 2000, almost 90% of vegetable oil produced was used for final consumption in food, and only 10% was used in industrial consumption - in the production of fuel, lubricants, oil paints, in soap making and other industries. (rice. 5 ) .

Already in 2006, the share of vegetable oil used in industrial consumption amounted to almost 20%, and by 2012 it reached 23.4%. Moreover, the most common types of vegetable oil in the industrial industry today are soybean, rapeseed and palm oils.
As for the change in the structure of consumption of vegetable oil for food, it can be noted that over the past decade, the share of palm oil consumption has increased, while the share of soybean oil, in turn, has decreased. (rice. 6 ) .

The share of such types of vegetable oils as sunflower, peanut, cottonseed, coconut and olive in the structure of food consumption has been fairly stable over the past decade.
Returning to the structure of industrial consumption of vegetable oil, we note that in 2000 the most common “industrial” vegetable oil was palm and palm kernel oils, the share of which reached 60%. (rice. 7 ) .

Soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oils were also popular. However, palm oils began to gradually lose their positions - there is no drop in industrial consumption in absolute terms, but no growth either. Thus, the picture of the world structure of industrial consumption of vegetable oil began to shift towards an increase in the use of soybean and rapeseed oils.
In 2012, the structure of industrial consumption by main types of vegetable oils is as follows: palm oil occupies 38.3%, soybean oil accounts for 23.1%, and rapeseed and palm kernel oils account for 19.8 and 11.7%, respectively.
The global volume of production and consumption of the main types of vegetable oils (palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower oils) is growing steadily at an average annual rate of 4.8% per year.
The structure of food consumption of the main types of vegetable oil in the world as a whole is changing very slowly. Over the past 10 years, the share of consumption of palm oil has slightly increased, while the share of soybean oil, in turn, has slightly decreased. The leaders in the global food consumption market are four types of vegetable oil - palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower - and the shares of the last two in the structure of world consumption have been stable over the past years.
In the structure of world consumption of vegetable oil, there has been a new trend towards an increase in the share of industrial consumption. Moreover, the highest growth in this segment is shown by rapeseed oil, which is used for the production of biodiesel in the EU countries, and soybean oil, which is used for the production of biofuels in the United States.

Sergei Khitrov,
senior analyst,
head of research projects at RBC.research