RSPO Foresees Global CSPO Production Touching Seven Million Metric Tonnes

KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 (Bernama) -- The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an international multi-stakeholder organisation, foresees the global annual production for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) to reach over seven million metric tonnes by year-end. Secretary-General Darrel Webber said CSPO global production will continue to grow due to an increase in demand. "The production capacity of CSPO reached over 6.4 million metric tonnes in June from about 6 million in April this year. We estimate it to reach over 7 million by year-end," he told reporters at a media briefing on the RSPO here Thursday. He said the RSPO will continue to focus on increasing CSPO demand while penetrating major new markets for sustainable palm oil. "For our first strategic pillar, we have begun with two of the single largest consumer markets for palm oil, India and China. "The RSPO aims to continue the momentum of engagement so that these key markets understand that they play an important role in protecting the environment, communities and business, through market transformation to sustainable palm oil," he added. He said the RSPO membership had grown by over 35 per cent this year to close to 900 members from over 50 countries to date. "But more significant than the progression in numbers, is that membership has grown in the categories of processors and traders and consumer goods manufacturers from Europe. "This demonstrates a growing interest towards certified sustainable palm oil," Webber added. He said that the second strategic pillar focuses on continuing production momentum through certification in Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Papua New Guinea, West Africa and Latin America. "To date, there are 30 grower companies with 146 RSPO certified mills covering 3.2 acres with 6.4 million metric tonnes of CSPO or approximately 12 per cent of the total global crude palm oil. "We are implementing some significant initiatives with independent smallholders in key grower markets to assist them in capital and capacity. This is to enable them to embrace sustainable practices to protect their future livelihood as sustainable palm oil becomes increasingly mainstream," he added. He said the final strategic pillar is to continue to enhance the integrity and standard of RSPO for certification. Webber said Malaysia, in its quest towards certified sustainable palm oil, has achieved significant milestones as the second largest RSPO membership by country after the United Kingdom. "Malaysia contributes 45 per cent to the total volume of global CSPO that makes up 36 per cent of certified grower companies around the world. Close to 50 per cent of total mills certified globally are from Malaysia," he added. -- BERNAMA