You may be one of those who say oil palm plantations destroy forest and land areas due to their uncontrolled expansion. But mind you, the real fact is that oil palm is the most productive and most efficient oil crop in terms of land use if compared to other oil crops, including soybean, rapeseed and sunflower.
Oil Palm: Less Land, Higher production!
If we compare the planting areas of oil crops from year to year, we will surely find that the oil palm plantations have the lowest expansion. Let’s find out through the following data:
| Year | Soybean | Sunflower | Rapeseed | Palm oil |
| 1980 | 48.5 million ha | 5.3 million ha | 9.9 million ha | 1.0 million ha |
| 2000 | 75.5 million ha | 19.8 million ha | 24.7 million ha | 10 million ha |
| 2023 | 139.7 million ha | 28.2 million ha | 41.5 million ha | 26.9 million ha |
| 2025 (projection) | 145 million ha | 29 million ha | 43 million ha | 28 million ha |
Source: Data of USDA (2024) and projection based on growth trend.
Palm areas are much smaller, but what about production? Let’s check the facts!
Vegetable oil productivity: Palm oil the highest!
Oil palm has outcompeted all of other oil crops since early 2000. Following is the estimation of global production of vegetable oils (in million tons):
| Year | Soybean | Sunflower | Rapeseed | Palm Oil |
| 1980 | 9.92 | 1.53 | 2.58 | 5.37 |
| 2000 | 26.78 | 7.91 | 13.90 | 27.31 |
| 2023 | 62.31 | 20.83 | 32.85 | 88.24 |
| 2025 (projection) | 65 million tons | 22 million tons | 34 million tons | 91 million tons |
Source: USDA Oilseeds Report (2024) and trend of market growth.
It shows that despite smaller areas, the oil palm has the highest production of vegetable oil in the world!
Most Productive: 1 Hectare can produce 3.36 Tons of oil!
Seen from land use and productivity, the oil palm is really amazing:
- Soybean: 0.47 ton oil/ha/year
- Sunflower: 0.78 ton oil/ha/year
- Rapeseed: 0.74 ton oil/ha/year
- Palm Oil: 3.36 tons oil/ha/year
It means that soybean needs four times bigger size of plantation areas to equalize palm oil production from one hectare area.
Most competitive price
The palm oil is not only superior in production, but it also excels in price. Its high production makes it cheaper than other vegetable oils—not because of low quality, but because of its high efficiency.
Check the graphic of prices of global vegetable oils (US$/ton):
- Palm Oil: More stable and tend to be cheaper
- Soybean oil & others: More fluctuative and tend to be more expensive
Source: World Bank Commodities Price Data and USDA (2024)
Oil palm is the most land-efficient, most productive, and most competitive among all vegetable oils. The statement that oil palm is expansive is just a myth, not true. In fact, oil palm helps fulfill the world’s needs of vegetable oils in a more efficient way! (*)
USDA Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade (2024). FAO Statistics Database. World Bank Commodity Prices. Proyeksi analisis tren oleh PASPI dan BPDPKS.
